STAR WARS: The Force Eternal
by tython055
Summary: 4 years after the rise of the Empire, the Jedi are all but extinct. And after escaping from Darth Vader and his castle on Mustafar, former Jedi apprentice Theron ends up in an entirely different universe, more specifically, a different reality. Deciding to follow his own path, Theron takes on the Skywalker surname in honor of the Clone Wars hero and fight the forces of evil...
1. Prologue

_**A/N: Tython here! I've decided to try out writing the very first Star Wars/Toaru crossover. If any of you are interested in reading it, feel free to review, follow, and favorite.**_

_**And without further ado, enjoy this new story.**_

**A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…**

**Prologue**

'_For four years… the Empire have spread their terror across the galaxy. The Dark Side has clouded our vision, and our ancient enemy - the Sith - have won. And while the last of the Jedi continued to be hunted down, the power of the Dark Side still grows. The galaxy has fallen in the hands of the Sith and no mortal man… can stand in their path…'_

**Mustafar**

**15 BBY**

The TIE Advanced flies from the planet Mustafar's orbit as it makes its way towards a castle in the shape of a tuning fork. The ship then lands in the fortress's hangar with only a few other regular TIE fighters in it as well. A welcoming party of Stormtroopers form a variation of a salute as the doors to the hangar slide open, revealing a man clad in black armor and a cloak. His mechanical heavy breathing was heard as he walks past the white armored soldiers. This is the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader.

Vader then enters the elevator that is on the far side of the hallway. The door closes behind him as the lift takes him to a specific floor beneath his fortress. Not long, the lift's doors open, and Vader walks the floor's hallways, turning on every corner of the prison level in his fortress. He then approaches a cell door guarded by two Stormtroopers. When they noticed the Sith Lord, the two then stand straight as the door opens and Vader walks inside before the door closes behind him.

Standing beneath him is a boy no older than 12. He has short brown hair and brown eyes along with his skin tone being peach white. He appears to be handcuffed to the floor and looks to be tortured due to the tears and burn marks on his current clothing. Unfortunately, the circular floor grate keeps him from getting out should he breaks free from the cuffs.

"A whole month in isolation." Vader's voice booms inside the cell. "Impressive. And to think that you wouldn't last long here. No one ever had."

"The Force gives me what I need." The boy sitting on the floor answers to prove his point.

"The Force?" Vader questioningly says calmly.

The boy rolls his eyes in annoyance.

"The Dark Side, my master." He corrects himself with hatred in his voice.

"Rise." Vader commands as he uses the Force to lift the circular floor up to where the Sith Lord stands.

The boy then stands up and looks straight at Vader, who is so giant to the prisoner.

"When I found you, I saw the potential that you possess. The Force is strong within you. And for a year, you've exceeded my expectations in embracing the Dark Side without letting it consume you."

"Well, your harsh training sessions did pay off after all." The boy sarcastically comments. "I've got the few scars to prove it."

Vader ignores his joke, however, as he has more to say.

"However, you've still not yet earn the right to become an Inquisitor. And your training isn't completed. Tomorrow, you're first true test will begin." Vader announces, much to the boy's surprise.

Vader then turns around and walks toward the exit before stopping and turning his head back towards him.

"I do not expect you to survive. But if succeed, then it'll be the first real step into serving the Empire."

After that, Vader exits the boy's cell before the door closes, leaving him alone as usual. Why is Vader so interested in him, you ask? It's because of how powerful he is with the Force that could rival some of the strongest Jedi to date (though they're all dead since Order 66 was issued). And the interesting fact is that this boy was a padawan learner to a Jedi Master in exile before he was slaughtered by one of Vader's Inquisitors. Too bad that this boy's Jedi training lasted for 11 years, considering that he was founded by the exiled Jedi Master as an infant. From what he knows about his mentor, is that he is one of the last descendants of a long-forgotten Jedi known as Revan prior to the fall of the Old Republic a thousand years ago. Of course, no one within the old Jedi Order remembers him as it was only the stuff of legends.

The boy then sighs heavily when Vader left.

"Thank the Force he's gone." He says.

He then looks around his cell before looking at his chained cuffs on the floor.

"No way in hell I'm gonna sit around and end up as an Inquisitor that's waiting to be cast aside as an expendable threat to the Empire."

The boy then moves back and begins pulling on the chains harder. And like that, they finally tear off the floor.

"_I'll have to worry about getting these broken cuffs on my wrists off once I recover my lightsaber that I constructed on the planet my master raised and instructed me on."_

The boy then runs toward the exit and takes out a hydrospanner that he smuggled into his cell during Vader's harsh teachings.

"_And don't get me started on the food here. Ugh, I want to try something tasteful for the rest of my life." He comments on the food he's usually served for over a year as a prisoner while using the hydrospanner to work on the door's control panel._

It didn't take long, but he manages to get the door open only to see that the two Stormtroopers guarding the door outside are knocked out by an astromech droid he's all too familiar with.

"R4?!" He says in surprise.

The red/white astromech known as R4-P23 looks like an R2 unit due to the red R2-styled head dome except it is modified R4 unit.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" He bleeps and whistles.

"Of course! But boy, am I glad to see you again!" He hugs his droid before letting go. "Could you do something about these cuffs on my wrists? They're a little too tight for me!"

The astromech then uses one of his tools to remove the cuffs and the boy then ease the pain on his wrists.

"Thanks, buddy." He says to the droid. "By the way, how'd you end up here anyway?"

"Well, it was out of pure luck." He beeps proudly. "It took me a whole year to find you throughout Imperial-controlled space. I managed to stow away aboard a supply ship meant for the troops stationed here and make my way inside the castle to find where they were keeping you."

"Then we should get moving now, R4." He says. "I need to get my lightsaber back in the armory. It's just three floors above us. Plus, I don't want to stick around fighting Vader to the death. THAT is the last time I'm sparring with him."

"Vader?" R4 beeps confusingly.

"The Sith Lord who built and lives in this monolithic castle." He answers the droid's question. "And apparently, it's only a matter of time before he finds out I'm not in my cell."

"Oh." The droid beeps in realization. "Then let's go! I'll help you get to the armory."

The two then make a run for the elevator as they need to recover the boy's lightsaber before leaving.

**A few minutes later…**

After making their way inside the armory without alerting the guards, the boy sees his lightsaber (one-bladed Jedi Lightsaber hilt design from the Old Republic 'Deceived' cinematic trailer) on a table and picks it up and activates its sapphire blue blade (Anakin's blue lightsaber color), giving off a cool humming sound before turning the plasma blade off.

"Got what you need, Theron?" R4 beeps while keeping a lookout for any troops coming their way.

"Yeah." The boy Theron answers as he clips his saber to his belt in a non-dangling position. He then notices a holster and a modified blaster pistol that once belonged to a smuggler that is kept prisoner. Theron then adds the holster to his right thigh before placing the modified blaster in it.

"I managed to rig the ships in the hangar with explosives. We should be to detonate them once we're airborne." The droid beeps in suggesting manner. "Though there will be a few Stormtroopers posted there."

"Then we'll have to fight our way through. And quickly before Vader shows up along with back up." Theron says after grabbing a dark brown hooded Jedi robe from another table.

The two then make there way back to the elevator as the hangar is located back to the Mustafarian surface. While the elevator takes them to the hangar, R4 beeps in excitement.

"Oh! You won't believe this!"

"What is it?" Theron curiously asks.

"I just noticed a blue and white Eta-2 Actis-class Jedi starfighter in the hangar when I first arrived her a few hours earlier. We can use that to escape this planet."

"Nice!" The former Jedi apprentice smirks with cockiness in his voice. "Seems to belong to a previous dead Jedi prisoner from before. Too bad those ships were decommissioned when the Empire took over. *sighs* Good thing I was taught how to pilot ships before Vader captured me, otherwise we'd be in big trouble getting the hell out of here."

The elevator door then opens as the two exit and are on a catwalk just above the said hangar. Seems like R4 was right about a few Stormtroopers stationed below them.

"Ready?" Theron whispers to his droid.

His droid whistles in confirmation.

And just like that, Theron drops from above that caught the troopers off guard.

"Halt!" One of them said.

The Jedi immediately takes out his blaster and shoots him, knocking the trooper down as he dies.

"Blast him!" Another said as the troopers open fire on him.

Theron evades the blaster fire and takes cover behind a few crates and returns fire on them, killing a few of the troopers in the process. Putting his blaster away, he then pops out of cover and Force repulses away the remaining troopers, knocking them outside the castle and into the molten lava, killing them.

"A little overkill, don't you think?" Theron asks R4 who hovers down with his jet thrusters on his legs.

"You're the one with the Force, smartass." He beeps rudely. "I'm not an organic meatbag."

"Hey, it was just a question." The Jedi defends as his droid gives a rude nudge to him before landing inside the starfighter's droid socket.

As the droid starts up the fighter, the castle's alarms go off loudly.

"Attention all personal!" An Imperial officer announces. "Prisoner escape in progress! Secure the hangar and all exits! Recapture prisoner! Lord Vader wants him alive!"

"We should be going!" Theron shouts, more troops arriving in the hangar.

"I've almost got it! Just keep them off my back!" R4 beeps while he is starting up the Jedi starfighter.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Theron replies before taking out his lightsaber and begins deflecting blaster fire from the Stormtroopers back at them. He then lightsaber throws at them, leaving slice marks on their chest armor plating that left them seriously injured or killed. He catches his flying saber back with the Force and continues to deflect more blaster fire.

"Theron! I've got control of the fighter! Get your ass on board so we can get the hell out of here!" R4 bleeps as he has taken control of the starfighter.

"Way ahead of you!" He answers before putting his lightsaber away and Force pushed the Stormtroopers away, sending them flying.

Theron then enters the ship's cockpit and closes the hatch as he is in his seat.

"Go!" He exclaims.

And then, the Jedi starfighter takes off and flies out of the castle as it is heading for Mustafar's orbit.

"Okay." Theron says as he takes out a detonator. "Time to give Vader a going away present."

When he pressed the button, the castle's hangar lights on fire as the ships inside all blow up, including Vader's TIE Advanced.

"Hell yeah!" Theron whoops as he sees the explosion below him and gives the finger. "Good luck finding another Dark Side candidate, Vader!"

"Hey, save the celebration AFTER we're in the clear because we got two Star Destroyers in orbit!" R4 beeps into Theron's pilot headset.

Theron looks straight and sees two Star Destroyers already in position as they have already left the planet's stratosphere.

"Now would be a good time to make the jump to hyperspace!" He exclaims. "Those Destroyers are in position to tractor beam us!"

"Where should I set course?" R4 beeps as they're getting closer to the Imperial cruisers.

"Anywhere that's not here!" He shouts.

A few seconds later, Theron sees the stars getting brighter as they then have already entered hyperspace, seeing the blue surroundings they're in.

"We're in the clear." R4 informs his best friend. "Imperials won't be able to track us now that I was able to scramble this ship's signature."

"Whew!" He says with relief. "It's good thing this ship had its hyperspace docking ring. If it didn't, we would be sitting ducks and you being taken for recommissioning."

"You got that right, meatbag." He beeps, earning a death glare from the Force user as he could tell the astromech is laughing.

"Laugh it up, pal." He annoyingly says. "I don't know why you keep calling me meatbag."

"Because I want to, and I can." He raspberries his friend.

"Whatever." Theron shakes his head before changing to another topic. "Anyways, what coordinates did you input since going to Imperial-occupied space is out of the question. And don't get me started on going to a planet that's strong in the Dark Side. NOT a good idea of where to camp out."

"Yeah, about that…" The droid whistles nervously.

"If there's a problem R4, then out with it." He says impatiently.

"Look, I didn't have time to choose a destination. So, I might've plugged in some random coordinates."

"And we have no idea where we're going?" Theron facepalms. "You're either a genius or just plain stupid. We could be heading for our deaths, R4."

"Well you're the one who said to make a jump to anywhere that's not Mustafar, meatbag!" The droid roasts at his remark.

Just when Theron was about to argue with his companion, a beeping sound is heard on the nav computer.

"R4, what's the nav computer telling us?"

"I don't know but it looks like we're headed straight for a large object."

"Drop us out of hyperspace."

"What, right now?"

"Yes now!" He exclaims in panic. "Drop us out or we're done for!"

R4 immediately then drops the ship out of hyperspace just in time as the ship is now in orbit of an uninhabitable moon.

"Seriously, we really need to plan out our escape routes in hyperspace." Theron sighs in relief. "But other than that, where in the galaxy are we? We almost collided with an uninhabitable moon, so there's got to be a planet here."

The Force user checks the nav computer's star charts, only to show that the galaxy map hasn't popped up. This shocked Theron in confusion.

"None of this makes any sense." He says aloud. "It's telling us we're no longer in our galaxy anymore. But how's that even possible?"

"Maybe it has something to do with the random hyperspace route we took to escape." The astromech theorizes in binary.

"That is possible." He agrees with his droid. "We could've ended up in an entirely different universe. If the multiverse theory is true that is."

"Isn't that just all theories scientists spent centuries speculating on?" R4 deadpans with his whistles and beeps.

"Not unless we investigate this new universe's unmapped galaxy." Theron says. "R4, scan for any inhabitable worlds nearby. We'll need to conserve whatever fuel we have left if we're to make it to at least one of them."

R4 then scans, which didn't take long since there must be a planet that orbits a moon.

"Scan complete." The droid beeps. "You're right about one thing. There is a nearby inhabitable planet in this star system. However, I'm unable to confirm if there's civilization or not due to my scanner not acquitted beyond an entire world."

"I'll take us close then." Theron suggested as he takes control of the starfighter.

As the ship flies over the moon's horizon, Theron and R4 sees a planet green and blue planet. Theron then scans the planet for any sentient life.

"Looks like there's civilization after all." He deduces. "Huh, this planet's technology seems primitive but advanced at the same time. And this world looks familiar somehow. I can even sense how strong this planet is in the Force. Extremely strong, in both the light and dark side."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on!" R4 interrupts him. "That shouldn't even be possible. Not even worlds like Tython can be ridiculously strong in both sides of the Force."

"At least my master implemented forgotten knowledge about the stuff that's been passed down from his legendary bloodline into your databanks." He casually says before working on the controls to jam the planet's orbital satellites and other forms of electronic communication. "Let's land on that curved large island, but away from civilization. We don't need to attract unwanted attention."

The Jedi interceptor detaches from the hyperspace ring away from the planet's orbital range and opens its S foil wings before flying down to the surface. The ship passes through the clouds and Theron sees a few small cities and towns that are miles apart from each other. The ship then closes its S foils and lands in a forest away from prying eyes, it's landing gear setting foot on unknown ground.

After taking off his headgear, Theron climbs out of the ship with R4 ejecting out of the ship's astromech socket. Theron takes a moment to breath in the fresh air that he missed for the past year.

"Are you gonna keep breathing in the fresh air or are we gonna explore this place, meatbag?" R4 beeps impatiently, excited to see what this planet has to offer.

"Shut up, R4." The Force user says to his best friend. "I need you to wait with the ship in case we need to relocate should we come across any hostiles."

R4 wanted to argue with him but chose to obey since they don't know what surprises this planet has in store for them.

"Very well." He whistles as Theron then throws his robe's hood on and walks away from the ship. "Bring back anything useful we can use!"

**(Time Skip)**

Theron continues to walk towards the edge of the forest with a cliff alongside. When he exited the forest and then his eyes widen in shock with his mouth agape.

"Whoa…" Theron mutters in awe and excitement.

From where he's standing, he can see how great the view is with the hilly, mountainous landscape being filled with animal and plant life. He then notices a small city in the background.

"It would seem that this place is very interesting to explore." He says with a smirk on his face. "And maybe I can start learning how this place looks and feels familiar."

And so, the young Jedi's first adventure begins…

**\- THE FORCE ETERNAL -**

**To be continued…**


	2. Act 1: Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Three years later…**

Earth. The birthplace of humanity, and the only known sentient race in the Milky Way galaxy. And from what Theron has learned so far is that this is the first time he's seen so many governments coexisting onto a single world, which is crazy in an off-worlder's point of view. And during his time as a new 'citizen', he spent the time researching its different countries with its own languages and cultures, including their own histories if he is to blend in with the populace of Earth. For some reason, however, he somehow can read English – which is another form of Basic that he speaks in – and this raised more questions to the confusing boy. Could it be possible that he was originally born in this world? Or did the Force gave him the unknown knowledge to live amongst mankind? The only thing Theron knows is that other off-world species are considered alien to most humans and he doesn't blame them for that. Though he did enjoy some of its best social media relating to the topic, and was even influenced by them such as books, comics, manga, anime, films, history, etc.

And now this have led him to today.

**Academy City**

**July 27, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

"Honestly R4, why'd you have us go to here of all places?" Theron complains to his astromech beside him as they stroll down the morning streets of School District 7.

The boy is now fifteen years of age and is currently wearing a brown hoodie and cargo pants with both his blaster and lightsaber holstered.

"We've been to some of Earth's best locations and you're bitching about visiting Academy City?" R4 beeps annoyingly. "You people can be such meatbags sometimes."

"You're forgetting that this place is the most heavily guarded and advanced civilization on the planet. And don't forget that the mind trick won't work on strong-willed individuals, so we need to be extra careful not to piss off the locals that have superpowers."

"Stop being a meatbag for once will you?" R4 lectures. "Ever since we first arrived on this planet three years back, you've started to become a bit paranoid."

"Says the droid who suggested that we should prepare for anything should the Empire finds us and this planet to rule with an iron fist." He roasts, earning an electric shock from the astromech with one of its appendages stored inside him. "Hey!"

"We've only been here for a day, and I want to see how 'advanced' this primitive world is."

"R4, we don't offend a planet's technology and you know that!" Theron angrily yells. "And I don't give a damn if you don't care because if we were in a messy situation and blow our own cover, you'll end up being taken apart and studied like a frog wanting to be dissected."

"Then why did you have say that I'm one of the city's trash robots? I look nothing like those lifeless tin cans!" R4 rants with his beeps.

"Because it's the best cover up for you." He defends his plan. "Everyone's going to believe that you're a prototype trash bot that can do so much more! Come on, we're still friends right?"

"Yeah, except for the fact I still can't kriffing splice Earth's computers!" The droid angrily chirps.

"Shhhhhhhh!" He shushes his friend.

"Did you just shush me?! How dare you!"

"R4!" He whispery shouts at his droid. "You're making a scene!"

R4 immediately stops ranting and looks around with his head dome to see that Academy City students and adults looking at Theron and the astromech with weirded out expressions.

"This is your fault for complaining about being here." R4 beeps as he looks up towards his owner, breaking the silence.

"You know what," Theron looks down at the droid. "I hate you."

**A little while earlier in the 7****th**** School District…**

A girl with pigtails is running down the streets as she takes a left turn around a corner. This is Kuroko Shirai, a Level 4 Teleporter and a member of Judgement.

"Stop, in the name of Judgement!" Shirai shouts as she stops in an alley and presents her Judgement armband. "I'm placing you under arrest for assault and-. Huh?!"

But standing before her is none other than her best friend and roommate Mikoto Misaka, otherwise known as the famous 3rd ranked Level 5 Railgun. And she has already knocked out the gangsters - that attempted to assault her - with her powers. Though they were almost burnt to a crisp due to the smoke coming off the unconscious older boys.

"Sissy!" Shirai immediately shouts in annoyance.

"Huh?" Misaka confusingly says as she turns to see her friend. "Oh, hey Kuroko."

**(Time Skip)**

"How many times do I have to keep telling you, Sissy?" Shirai lectures her senpai roommate as they walk down the streets. "As a normal citizen of Academy City, you can't just-!"

"-get involved within Judgement business. Yes, I know." Misaka finishes her sentence in annoyance. "But aren't you being a bit hypocritical about this? You and I both know that I get involved if one of my friends is seriously hurt, not to mention that those guys started harassing me like they always do."

Shirai sighs at Misaka's explanation. She hates to admit it, but her Sissy does have a strong point.

"What am I going to do with you?" She groans as she facepalms.

Suddenly, the two then heard loud whistles and beeps. They stop to look at a boy that's the same age as Misaka and what looks to be a trash bot of some kind that the said boy is arguing with. The two of them stopped arguing and the boy shushes the bot as they are being stared at by people. There was a moment of silence before the bot beeps once more, annoying the boy.

"You know what," He annoying says to it. "I hate you."

The two didn't say a word and continue to walk away from them. Meanwhile, both Misaka and Shirai have just witnessed it as the boy and robot walked away.

"What's a guy like him walking around with a trash bot?" Misaka curiously wonders. "Is that supposed to be a new prototype of sorts? I've never seen a strange looking bot like that before."

"Me neither." Shirai suspiciously glares toward the two walking down the street. "Though it is illegal for him to be in possession of one. Sissy, I require your assistance in apprehending the suspect."

"Really?" Misaka says with a smirk. "I thought you said that I shouldn't be involved in Judgement business this time."

"Only for today. So, shall we?"

"Kuroko, you've read my mind."

Focusing our attention back to Theron and R4, the duo have entered a park as they stop by a bench for the former apprentice to rest on.

"And whatever happened to being a Jedi?" R4 asks his friend in binary.

"You know why I can't announce myself that I'm or used to be a Jedi since my training is incomplete, given the fact that no one on Earth know who they were and what the Force is." Theron reminds his friend with a sigh. "And there's no way I can handle that kind of pressure where people start flocking towards me for help every day. It's not my place to get involved in Earth affairs."

"You can be really stubborn, you know that?" The droid grumbles.

"True, but that's part of my charm." He admits with no regrets. "I can't wait to ditch this place. And we haven't found a permanent home yet."

Just then, two people appear in front of the duo. Both are girls wearing school uniforms.

"Can I help you?" Theron asks them while keeping his guard up. It's a good thing he learned a few of Earth's languages, including Japanese (in which he's speaking in right now).

"Yes." The girl with pigtails says as she shows him her armband badge. "As a member of Judgement, I'm placing you under arrest for illegally owning a trash bot."

"Do you have a warrant?" He raises his eyebrow while staying calm.

"No, but I will have to bring you to the Judgement office for questioning and possible confiscation of the bot you have in possession."

"Hold on a sec." He interrupts her. "First of all, he's not for sale. Two, I wasn't aware of a law that bans people to own a trash bot, given the fact that house maids in Academy City are being accompanied and aided by those bots."

"If you plan on resisting arrest, things will get messy here." She warns him.

"I don't plan to." He says back with a smirk and signals his droid.

R4 then knocks down the two girls and Theron hops onto him as the droid then activates its jet thrusters and hovers across a pond.

"Sayonara, adieu, auf wiedersehen!" He waves back at the girls trying to arrest him and confiscate his friend.

There escape was short lived, however, when they are suddenly back on solid ground.

"What the hell?!" Theron shockingly exclaims. "R4, I thought the plan is to fly us away from the park, not take us back down!"

"Uh, it wasn't me Theron." R4 explains.

Suddenly, Theron feels handcuffs being put on and looks down to see that they have literally be put on out of nowhere.

"How in the-?" He questions but was interrupted when the pigtailed girl teleports out of nowhere too.

"If you're wondering how I did it, then the answer is my Esper power." The said girl explains as she takes out a few metal spikes. "I have the ability to teleport almost anywhere including inanimate objects and people with a single touch. I could teleport these spikes into certain parts of your body if you want. Does that sound good?"

"Metal spikes, really?" The Jedi speaks, unimpressed with the weapon of choice she would use. "So uncivilized, even for you."

Shirai had to flinch at his trolling.

"_The nerve of him!" She angrily rants in her thoughts. "How dare he mocks me of the weapon I specifically chose when fighting crime in Judgement!"_

"Nice job, Kuroko!" The short brown-haired girl known as Misaka says to the Teleporter. "Guess you didn't need my help after all."

"I aim to please." Shirai says with pride before she starts to creepily bear hug her roommate. "I guess this call for celebration to my wonderful Si-! Gah!"

"Cut it out!" She angrily shouts while trying to break free.

Too bad for Shirai that Misaka electrocuted the perverted girl with her powers, leaving the Teleporter all charred from the electric shock.

"Nice perverted friend you got there." Theron sarcastically says with a nod. "Though I wouldn't want a friend to keep sexually assaulting me and clearly she's still on duty. Seriously, how come she hasn't been kicked out for that kind of behavior?"

"Kuroko here may be a pervert and all, but she's still loyal as my best friend." Misaka truthfully admits before shrugging at his good question. "As for your question, I have no idea. It's possibly her hormones triggering her to do those things. Who knows?"

Shirai groans as she stands back up to shake off the electrocution.

"A suspect like you has the right in calling me a pervert?" She questionably argues. "You may not like it, but everyone has their own unique tastes, especially if it's perverted or not."

"Whatever you say, officer." He rolls his eyes at how stupid her argument is. It's still considered sexual harassment in his eyes.

"Now then," Shirai says to the duo with a creepy innocent smile. "I think it's time I take you to the Judgement office for questioning. Pull any tricks, and I won't hesitate to use place one of my spikes into somewhere that you wouldn't want in."

Theron's eyes widen at how dark her threat can be but knows that she won't since she'll end up in trouble for hurting a surrendered suspect.

"A little dark don't you think?" He asks with a raised eyebrow before he quickly tilts to the side to avoid a metal spike thrown at him. "Okay, I'll take that as a yes."

**School District 7**

**177****th**** Judgement Branch Office**

It is already the afternoon as Kazari Uiharu is walking up the stairs toward the work office. She just came to finish up some paperwork and file them to her superiors.

"Uiiiiharrruuuuu!" A girl's voice exclaims happily.

When Uiharu turned around, her skirt is flipped up and screamed in embarrassment while her face is blushed.

The girl in front of her laughs with a gleeful expression on her face. She has long black hair with a single flower hairpin on the left side and has blue eyes. She's extremely beautiful despite being only 14 (as you readers would think that her beauty could possibly rival that of a certain Mandalorian graffiti artist). This is Ruiko Saten, a Level 0 and Uiharu's close friend… and somewhat of a pervert, but less shameless than Shirai.

"What the heck Saten?!" She angrily pounds her fists onto her close friend for flipping her skirt for a peek of her panties.

"Sorry, sorry!" Saten apologizes while laughing.

Uiharu stops attacking her and pouts.

"Honestly, you really have no shame sometimes."

"Aww. My kid sister is angry at me." The Level 0 teases.

"Hey, I already told you that I'm only a few months older than you." She chastises her as the two enter the office.

Inside the office, Theron is seated with cuffs in his hands while R4 is by a shelf of paperwork or closed case files.

"So, you're telling me that this bot was built by you?" Judgement's 117th Branch chief Mii Konori questions the boy.

"Yes." He calmly answers truthfully.

"And that you built it outside of Academy City, in which you and your bot came here as tourists?"

"Yes."

"He could be lying, chief." Shirai suggests, not convinced he's telling the truth.

"He's not." The senpai answers.

"Huh?!" Both Shirai and Misaka confusingly exclaims.

"When a person is lying, it's only because he isn't denying outrightly. I think there's a misunderstanding."

Shirai and Misaka wanted to argue but realizes that they'll have to trust her judgement on this for now.

"I'm sorry about the misunderstanding, sir." Konori bows in apology. "My colleague thought that you were in possession of a trash bot illegally."

"It's alright ma'am." He assures. "Your colleague was only doing her job."

"But you-!" Shirai was about point his resist of being arrested but was silenced by Misaka with a stomp on her foot and quietly yelps.

Just then, the door opens as Uiharu and Saten enter the office.

"Hey guys!" Saten greets the three girls before noticing a boy handcuffed on the sofa. "Oh, are we interrupting something?"

"Hey Saten and Uiharu." Shirai greets back before sighing at her own embarrassment. "You guys aren't."

"Who's this then?" Uiharu asks Konori and the two Tokiwadai girls. "A suspect?"

"No, it's just a misunderstanding. Nothing to worry about." Konori answers her question as she then uncuffs him. "We hope that you can forget any inconvenience, sir."

"It's not a problem miss-?"

"Konori. Mii Konori." She says as the two shake hands. "I'm the chief of Judgement's 177th Branch."

"It's not a problem at all, Konori. I'd best get going now." He says as he stands up and prepares to walk out the door. "Come on buddy."

The girls then look to see R4 beeping stubbornly towards Theron.

"Well, come on! We're leaving now." He repeats.

The droid finally complies by rolling towards him and the duo walk past Uiharu and Saten without stopping to say hi to them as they have already exit the room.

"Did that robot just talked to him?" Saten asks with curiosity in her voice.

**(Time Skip)**

The front door opens as Theron and R4 exit the 177th Branch office building and walk down the street.

"You said that it would work!" R4 angrily beeps. "And now your so-called idea has failed because now they know that I'm not a trash bot!"

"It hasn't failed already R4." Theron argues. "We're lucky that it works on most people in this city."

"Are we? Yet it's only a matter of time before they know that we don't have an official Earth ID." The droid reminds him.

Just then, the same four girls from inside the office came up from behind as the duo stopped to turn around.

"Wait up!" Misaka exclaims as she and her friends finally caught up to them.

"Oh. It's you and the girl with the pigtails. Am I under arrest again?" He jokes, earning a chuckle from Misaka and the other girls except for Shirai.

"No, it's nothing like that! Plus, I'm not a Judgement officer." The Railgun shakes her head in amusement.

"Other than that," Shirai interrupts them. "Why didn't you mention about you resisting arrest?"

"And humiliate you in front of your friends?" He scoffs. "I don't entirely stoop that low like any other scum in the world."

"Well then." she says. "I guess I owe you thanks for not bringing it up at all. Sissy was at least able to stop me from speaking out about it."

"Sissy?" He confusingly questions.

"Oh, that's right!" Misaka realizes. "We haven't properly introduced ourselves. I'm Mikoto Misaka and the one with the pigtails is my best friend Kuroko Shirai."

"A pleasure to meet you." He kindly says.

"Ahem!" Uiharu interrupts the three as she and Saten didn't like being kept out of it.

"Right, sorry!" Misaka notices that their friends are with her and Shirai. "And these are our friends that you passed by when you and your bot exit the office."

"Huh?" He confusingly asks again before the astromech nudges him.

"They're the girls that we didn't stop to greet, meatbag." R4 grumbles in annoyance.

"Really?" He questions before taking a good look at them. Uiharu is the short haired girl with flowers on her head while Saten is the girl with the chest length long hair that comes with a single flower hairpin on the left side. Though he must admit that she's beautiful given her facial features. And then, he starts realizing what R4 is clarifying. "Oh! I guess I didn't notice. Sorry about that."

"That's alright." Saten casually waves her hand while chuckling. "I would've done the same thing too. My name's Ruiko Saten."

"And I'm Kazari Uiharu, Shirai's partner in Judgement." She greets with a slight bow. "What's your name?"

Theron's eyes widen when they want to know his first and last name. To be honest, he never planned this kind of action from people wanting to know who he is. Thinking quickly, he randomly chose a surname and regains his posture.

"Theron. Theron Skywalker." He announces his full name to them. R4 glared at him in confusion and shock that totally says "Skywalker, really?"

"That's a pretty cool last name you got there." Saten says with awe. "Nice to meet you Theron."

"Thanks. Anyways, it's nice to meet you four, and me and the two of us best be on our way." Theron says as the duo turn around and begin walking.

"Hold on!" Misaka says with a hand on his shoulder. "If it's all the same to you, why don't you come along with us? We're on our way to have lunch together."

"Huh? But doesn't Shirai and Uiharu have Judgement duty?"

"You don't have to worry about that!" Uiharu explains. "Konori suggested it as an apology from Shirai, and that she gave us the okay to take some time off."

"Look I'm not sure if it's okay with you four. I don't want to be trouble to you."

"Not at all!" Shirai exclaims. "As an apology, I want to treat you for my rash judgement towards you."

"Plus, we were wondering if we can actually get to know a bit about you if it's not too much trouble for you." Saten suggested, hoping that she and the other girls can be friends with him.

Theron looks at the girls and then at R4 who returns the look at him. They seem insisted in wanting to be friends with him. After all, he doesn't have any friends other than his astromech droid.

"Well," He sighs in defeat. "I guess lunch wouldn't hurt."

**School District 7**

**Joseph's Restaurant**

"Here is your order, sir." The waitress (in maid attire) says with a kind smile as she serves Theron's food last.

"Thank you." Theron returns the kindness to her before she leaves him and the girls alone to enjoy their lunch.

"Thanks for the food!" The girls praise to themselves before digging in with their lunches.

"Again, with the parfait Uiharu?" Shirai questions her friend with a deadpan expression.

"Yep!" She answers with glee while eating her favorite treat. "After all, you didn't let me have one last time."

"That's only because you were slacking off in Judgement duty."

"Can you blame me for it?" The flower headed girl shrugs, not really caring about her appetite right now.

The five all enjoyed their lunches and began to engage in conversation halfway through eating.

"So, what brings you here to Academy City?" Misaka first speaks to the boy who is enjoying a BLT combo.

"The two of us came here as guests for a visit in this city. Last I heard, Academy City has gotten a little better in its government so far." Theron answers with R4 beside the chair he's sitting in.

"Indeed, that it's true." Shirai agrees. "After last December's evacuation, Academy City had to recover from a bunch of heat waves that were affecting the population. And with the city's previous chairman declared dead, a new one was placed and manage to clean up most of the corruption inside the board of directors as well as some of it within Anti-Skill. Recently, there's been talk of reorganizing the city's constitution to form a democratic system that's almost like the United States."

"I'd sure like to meet this chairman if possible." He wonders.

"Good luck with that." Saten says with a smug grin. "No one except for the governing board knows who he is unlike the previous chairman that founded Academy City in the first place."

"_At least I know who's in charge of it." Misaka shakes her head in thought, referring to a certain albino boy who is the city's number one Esper._

"Worth a shot though." He shrugs, not disappointed in anyway. Besides, it's not his business to pry into Earth affairs if necessary.

"Oh! I was wondering about that robot you've built." Saten changes the topic with curiosity on her expression.

"It's astromech droid." R4 corrects her with a series of annoyed beeps.

"Astromech droid?" Misaka and Uiharu curiously ask, which shocks Shirai and Saten, including Theron and R4.

"Hold on, you two can understand him like I can?" Theron asks with a raised eyebrow_. "I guess they can understand Binary, even if they either don't know it or call it that here on Earth."_

"You can do that, Sissy/Uiharu?!" Both Shirai and Saten asked them with the same expression he has as well.

"You can understand him, Uiharu/Misaka?!" Both the girls that can understand R4 question each other in shock.

"Whoa, okay! Let's all calm down first." He suggests towards the girls who then looked at him when he said it.

When they all calmed down, Theron repeats his question.

"Where'd you two learn how to understand what my droid is talking about?"

"Oh, that's easy!" Uiharu begins explaining. "I've learned to understand computers as a hacker myself. I'm guessing Misaka's done the same since she's an electromaster."

"Yeah." Misaka rubs the back of her head. "Though I'm not a computer expert like Uiharu is. That's more of her line of work."

"Wow Uiharu." Saten says in awe. "I never thought you and Misaka can actually talk to a droid that only speaks in beeps and whistles."

R4 then electric shocks Theron who suddenly quickly moves his shocked arm away from him while rubbing it.

"What was that for?!" He angrily questions, annoyed.

"I told you that there are people that can understand me, meatbag." He beeps, still frustrated for going along as a trash bot.

"You were being paranoid." He retorts.

"Meatbag?" Misaka questioned confusingly and curiously.

"Don't ask. I don't know." He groans in frustration. "He just like to call me with that insult for whatever damn reason. _*thoughts* Maybe it has something to do with that old HK-series assassin droid processor._"

"Meatbag, eh?" Saten says with a mischievous grin. "Seems you really hate being called that."

"Uh, why is she acting like that?" Theron asks the girl who hides his nervous from her.

"It's Saten." Uiharu sighs in annoyance. "No way you can get her to stop. Believe me, the three of us already tried."

"So does your astromech have a name?" Shirai asks.

"He's called R4-P23," The Jedi apprentice answers. "but I just call him R4."

"That's not really a name." Saten disappointedly criticizes with a deadpan.

"Well, get used to it Saten because his name's not changing anytime soon since I'M the one that built him in the first place." He says, which is mostly true from where he's from.

"Hmph." She playfully pouts. "You're no fun at all."

"Define 'fun', then. I'd very much like to know so much." Theron sarcastically insists the urban legend hunter. "Otherwise, R4 and I will just walk away and never see your face again."

"Huh?!" She exclaims in shock, completely caught off guard. Her friends, however, knows that he's using reverse psychology on her. "Hold on a sec! I haven't even told you about an urban legend that I'm sharing with my friends right now!"

Unfortunately, Misaka, Shirai, and Uiharu groaned when their friend brought up her favorite hobby.

"Not another one of your urban legends, Saten." Uiharu laments. "We all know it's either gossip or something that spells 'trouble' for all of us."

"Theron, I say we just ditch these girls and make a run for it." R4 beeps with a suggestion.

"That's very rude, R4." He whispers as the girls are arguing. "We haven't even thanked them for the lunch they invited us over. Besides, I'm very curious on what sort of urban legend Saten is talking about."

"I thought you want to leave this city." The droid recalls.

"Yet." He continues to whisper. "Right now, I want to hear about this so-called 'urban legend' she's bringing up."

The droid didn't say anything else and only grumbled at how he keeps making up his mind. Then again, R4 does want to keep exploring Academy City.

"I'm listening." He says, getting their attention once more.

Saten grinned happily while her friends prepare for the inevitable.

"Since your new here, I've got tons of different urban legends I can show you."

"Like?" He curiously wonders.

"I'm getting there." She says to him and thought of which one she should tell him about. "Here in Academy City, there's this old pawn shop that's been around for a while. The shop owner is willing to trade money for anything that's worth and then sell those goods to any buyer."

"That's not really an urban legend, Saten." Misaka points out. "That sounds more like a sale's pitch."

"I agree with Sissy here." Shirai shakes her head in amusement. "It doesn't sound like an urban legend at all."

"It doesn't if I haven't gotten to the actual legend!" Saten clarifies. "A few weeks ago, someone saw the owner selling a pouch of crystals to the buyer. No one knows who he sold them to but from what I heard; they're worth millions. Millions! And according to urban legend, nobody knows where they even came from."

"They could be a new kind of mineral this buyer must've got from the owner." Uiharu suggests.

"But it's only an urban legend!" The Level 0 girl casually gestures her hand with a sheepish grin. "We've already discovered every single mineral on this planet. And even if it's all true, they'd be impossible to find."

The girls then notice Theron in deep thought.

"Is something wrong?" Shirai asks.

"Wha?!" He snaps out of his thoughts. "I-It's nothing! I was just thinking that this urban legend is nothing but a simple fairy tale. *sheepishly chuckles* Plus, it could be just quartz."

They aren't fully convinced that he's telling the truth but decided to let it slide for now.

**A little while later…**

After eating lunch and talking, the six exit the restaurant.

"Thanks for inviting me over to lunch, ladies." He bows in respect.

"No problem, Theron." Saten smiles, returning the same respect to him. "I just wish you're an actual civilian in Academy City instead of being a tourist."

"Maybe our paths will cross again soon. Who knows?" He shrugs. "But anyways, R4 and I should be heading back to the hotel we're staying at."

"Okay, take care!" Saten farewells along with her friends as they watch Theron and R4 walk away on their way back to one of the hotels in School District 3.

"Those two sure like to butt heads a lot." Misaka comments.

"R4 seems to be nice around us despite bantering with him." Uiharu agrees.

"Still, Theron is bit strange." Shirai says. "What about you, Saten? Any opinions?"

Saten snaps out of her thoughts and looks at them in embarrassment.

"I-I thinking that Theron seems to be funny whenever he and R4 argue. Plus, he's a kinda cute."

"Huh?" Her friends questioned in confusion.

Saten blinks a few times and thinks at what she just said. She called him cute. Wait, that's never happened before!

"Wait! No, no, no!" The girl's cheeks turn red, flustered at her own words. "I-It's not like I'm flirting with him or anything! I just met the guy!"

Oh boy. Her friends are going to have a hell of a time teasing her after what Saten unintentionally blurted out. Especially Uiharu since she and Saten are close friends, not to mention Misaka as the Level 0 girl tends to tease her about having feelings for a certain spikey haired boy with a huge streak of rotten luck.

**With Theron and R4…**

"Well, those girls were nice." He says while walking with R4. "Though I'm not sure about Saten. She can be a little weird. But I must admit, she is extremely beautiful."

"So, what? You're attracted her beauty? Even how attractive her body is?" R4 teases with binary chuckles.

"W-Wait, what?!" Theron stutters and almost tripped before his cheeks turn red. "I just met her! It's not like she's starting to have a crush on me! Just where are you getting that crazy idea from?!"

"I don't know." The droid answers. _"Maybe I'm just hearing things?"_

"But anyways," Theron quickly changes the subject as his blushing goes away. "There's something odd about that urban legend Saten talked about."

"What do you mean?"

"The only minerals that are rarely seen by anyone are the Kyber Crystals that the Jedi have been using for their lightsabers. And they're not meant to be used lightly."

"So, you believe that if they fall into the wrong hands like the Empire, then it could have disastrous results?"

"Yeah." He nods. "Seems like we should investigate this."

"But it's best that we do it tomorrow. Not a good idea to do it at night since the city has a strict curfew. I mean, these crystals can tend to level cities or wipe out entire star fleets." R4 points out.

"And possibly planets." Theron agrees with a concerned expression. "I just hope that this nothing more than an urban legend. For both our sakes."

**(Time Skip)**

It was already sunset as the duo headed back to their usual place to sleep (after a bit more sightseeing and eating dinner), only that it wasn't a hotel. Turns out Theron and R4 made a small camp in a small abandoned hangar in School District 23's outskirts. The place is on a steep hilltop at the edge of Academy City. A perfect place for a hideout, no doubt.

As R4 enters inside to recharge his power matrix, he notices his friend looking back at the city. Theron notices this.

**[Binary Sunset – Episode IV: A New Hope plays]**

"Go on ahead, R4." He assures with a smile. "I just need some time to myself, that's all."

R4 complies without a word and heads inside.

Theron stands on a rock with one foot as he watches the sun set into the horizon, the wind blowing his mullet hairstyle. He often does this to clear his head and thinks about the good times he had with his master. Those memories brought tears in his eyes. He wishes that his master was here with him.

'_The Force is strong in you, Theron. Pass on what you have learned.' His final words were to him. 'Trust in the Force. You will never be alone.'_

'_Master,' He prays for guidance and wisdom. 'Guide me.'_

The boy wipes away his tears as he then heads inside as the night sky came.

**To be continued…**


	3. Act 1: Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**July 28, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**School District 7**

It was still early in the morning as it's only an hour away from sunrise. Theron and R4 have already arrived at the front doorstep of the pawnshop.

"Looks like this is the place." Theron confirms the location.

The boy opens the door and enters the shop with his astromech not behind. The place is filled with different goodies, ranging from different totems to metal parts that you won't find in any market.

"Sweet mother of all droids," R4 whistles. "I think we've hit the jackpot."

"You're telling me." Theron nods in agreement as he looks around.

The boy picks up a metal part off a shelf to look at before putting it back where it was. He then walks up to the front counter where items can be sold or purchased. Noticing a call bell, Theron taps it as a ringing sound echoes the inside the store. A seconds later, no one came up to him.

"Hello?" He shouts for anyone that's still running the place. "Anyone?"

But after a few minutes of waiting, no one still came.

"It seems no one's home." R4 beeps after exploring the different shelves. "I guess we'll have to come back another time."

"If no one's home, then why was the front door unlocked?" Theron points out. "It's not likely for anyone to just leave the store unlocked while being out of town."

"Weird." The droid comments.

"R4, go find the storage room in the back. I'll check the shop owner's office and see if he's still here, whether he's either asleep or elsewhere."

"You're the boss, meatbag." R4 whistles, agreeing that something's suspicious going on in this place.

Theron then enters the office, only to find that it's empty.

"_Why would someone leave the store opened when it was closed for the day?" He wonders. "This doesn't add up."_

Knowing that there's nothing here, Theron decides to check on R4 to see if he has found anything unusual. However, by the time he got there, the Jedi was not expecting what he's seeing.

"By the Force…" He mutters in horror as he and the astromech discover the dead corpse of the shop owner lying in a dried-up puddle of his own blood. His own eyes are left open after his death.

Theron crouches on his knees and closes the body's eyes as a sign of respecting the dead. His late master taught him that in his early teachings after all.

"He's dead." Theron says to his droid, giving him a serious expression on his face. "Looks like he was stabbed by a knife."

"Yeah, I've noticed." R4 sarcastically grumbles. "And there's nothing but empty boxes here."

"Empty?" Theron questions with a raised eyebrow.

The Jedi takes a closer inspection inside and sees mineral residue. He then checks the other boxes that are like the first one, shocking him even more. Picking up some of the residue with his fingers, Theron shows it to R4.

"R4, see if you can scan anything out of this." He orders.

R4 complies by using his holoprojector nozzle to scan the stuff on Theron's palm.

"Scan complete." The astromech finishes. "You were right. This stuff has traces of Kyber crystals, which means that someone has taken all of it from here."

"Shit." Theron curses under his breath.

"However, these crystals are unstable to use for lightsabers that could result in an explosion." R4 concludes.

"Synthetic Kyber crystals." Theron deduces in realization. "The blast radius isn't as huge as the actual ones but still prove to be useful in demolition. And whoever got their hands on this stuff, then we could be facing a crisis here. R4, it's best if we split up and track those crystals down."

"What about the body?" R4 questions, not wanting to leave something that'll smell.

"Leave an anonymous tip about it towards Anit-Skill. We need to know what this person is going to do with those synthetic crystals now."

"It's already done." R4 says before showing the Jedi something. "And on another note, I found this on one of the shelves."

Theron takes the thing out of one of R4's appendages and sees that it's a smartphone.

"A smartphone?" He wonders confusingly before giving a deadpan look. "Really?"

"Take a look at the contents, meatbag."

Theron accesses the phone's home screen and his eyes widen.

"This is Saten's phone!" He exclaims. "I thought she has one when I was at Joseph's with her and her friends!"

"It must be her original one. Though I'm not sure on how'd it got here in the first place."

"It's most likely the dead owner must've been stealing stuff and selling them to anyone who would use someone's personal info or just in it for profit." Theron deduces in disgust. Why does this always happen wherever he goes? "I don't like people that would sexually assault and rape others just for their twisted perverted minds."

"I'm sure the girl you're interested in would really love seeing it again. You're attracted to her admit it!" The astromech teases in a series of beeps.

"W-Wha?!" He exclaims while blushing hard as he puts the phone in his pocket. "I-I told you it's not like that! We've just became friends yesterday and I don't need you to make me look like an idiot in front of her! Can we just get the hell out of her before the authorities show up?!"

R4 replies with beeps that translates to as laughter, earning an annoyed/death glare from the Jedi.

"Why is it that you're always going to be the death of me?" He thought aloud as the duo walk out of the store and split up to track down the highly unstable synthetic crystals.

**A few minutes later…**

**School District 7**

Uiharu's phone rings as she was having a conversation with Saten.

"Good grief." The flower headed girl sighs before answering the phone. "Hey Konori. *pauses as the caller on the other end is talking* Huh? What?! *sighs* Alright, I'm on my way now."

She then hangs up and gets out of her seat, earning a confused expression from Saten.

"What did Konori want?" Saten asks.

"Sorry for leaving like this Saten." Uiharu apologizes as she puts on her Judgement armband. "There's been a murder at a pawnshop in this district not far from where we are, and I'm needed back at the branch office for support. I guess me and Shirai's vacation has been cut short."

"It's alright, Uiharu." The urban legend hunter assures her close friend with a smile. "Do what you need to do. Wouldn't want to keep you from being late to your duties as a Judgement officer."

Uiharu smiles back and waves her farewell before running off the branch office, leaving Saten alone.

"There's never a dull moment in this city, is there?" The girl wonders to herself with a sigh. _"Still, that pawnshop must be the same one I mentioned yesterday. And strangely, Theron was acting suspiciously towards it. Does that mean the urban legend is real?"_

Before she could speculate further, she notices Theron in the distance with that same suspicious look on his face.

"_Theron?" She curiously questions. "Just what is he doing?"_

Feeling that something's going than what she knows, Saten follows Theron without getting too close that would give away her presence to him. From what she's seeing him doing is that he's using some sort of handheld scanner to track whatever he's doing.

"_What are you trying to find?" She wonders only for her realize it. "He's trying to track down those crystals! But could there be a connection to the recent murder?"_

Shrugging, she decides to find out herself and continues to follow him to a monorail train, where she discreetly watches him from a distance on the opposite side of the train. Saten then sees Theron take out a small communicator (that the Jedi use, not the cylinder variation) that resembles a cell phone and speaks through it.

"R4, how are things on your end?" He asks his droid through the comm.

Saten couldn't make out what R4 is saying due to him speaking in beeps and whistles. However, she can tell what they're talking about as she can understand Theron's emotions in his voice and on his face.

"Alright," He sighs. "just stay in contact. I'm on a train bound to School District 21. That's what the trail is taking me to. Maybe I'll find something there."

Theron then ends call and places his commlink back into his pocket. He then turns his head to his right when he sees someone sitting beside him.

"What are you doing?" Saten questions.

"Aaaaahhhh!" He screams.

"Waaaahhhhh!" She screams too since she was too close to his face and unintentionally scared him.

"What the hell?!" He exclaims as he then tries to take deep breathes after what just happened.

"Waaahhh! I'm so sorry!" She quickly apologizes in panic with her eyes widened. "You scared me too."

"Never mind that!" He says, no longer caring about it. "Just what in the blazes are you doing here, Saten?"

"Oh! Uh, I just heard you were going to School District 21. And I'm headed there to visit the Nature Park for some relaxation." She explains in half-lies and half-truths.

"Really?" Theron further asks, fully unconvinced with her answer as he crosses her arms. "The way you were acting towards me suggests that that's not the reason what you're doing. You may be a strange girl in a good way, but you're a terrible liar. _*thoughts* And I don't always need the Force to read a person's emotions."_

"W-Wha?!" She nervously smiles. "I don't know what you're talking about. Why would I lie to you?"

However, Theron just raised his eyebrow as he doesn't believe her little lie. Giving in, Saten sighs in defeat.

"Okay, you win." The girl admits. "I was following you because of your suspicious expression you gave away when you were using that scanner. But please, I need to know what's going on that's related to the murder at the pawnshop Uiharu brought up before she left to investigate it at the branch office with Shirai and Konori."

"I'm not sure if I trust you enough for me to explain what I'm doing." Theron cautiously says but Saten will not have it.

"I'm an urban legend hunter, Theron. So, don't try to work your way out this behind my back. So, tell me."

"Fine." He grits his teeth with annoyance. "Remember that urban legend about some unknown crystals that can only be found in that particular store? Well, turns out they do exist. In a way."

"I knew it! The urban legend is real! Score one for Ruiko!" She exclaims with excitement before realizing what he said after. "Huh? What do you mean "in a way?"

"After R4 and I found the owner dead, the storage room was oddly empty. I searched the empty boxes and only found crystal residue. And what R4 scanned from it, is that they're unstable, which could be used as explosives."

"Explosives? That's crazy!" Saten exclaims in shock. "Who in their right mind would buy them?"

"They're powerful enough to collapse a cave tunnel or part of a building. And now that these crystals are in the wrong hands, I think that they're being used to make a bomb."

"A bomb?!" The girl exclaims in shock again. "If what you're saying is true, then we should contact Uiharu and Shirai. They'll know what to do."

"There's no time." Theron says. "And even if we did, they won't be able to find and defuse it in time."

"So, the only option left is to track the crystals down that's somewhere in the 21st School District?" Saten concludes. "I'm not sure if we can."

"Are you willing to stand by and do nothing while innocent lives are at stake?" The boy asks. "If you're not up to doing what's right, then you're nothing but a coward with innocent blood on your hands. You can't always rely on others to fight your battles!"

Saten gasps at his small speech. She hates to admit it, but Theron's right. For too long has she been on the sidelines while her friends are fighting to protect the people they care about and each other. But wait a minute! That's not entirely true.

"_No! I'm not a coward anymore!" She says to herself. "I risked my life to be a better person after the Level Upper incident. I saved my friend's lives from being almost killed by that madwoman, and even rescued Uiharu at the 2nd Reformatory on my own. I may be a Level 0 that has no powers but I'm not gonna stand by and watch my friends get hurt! And that's what I'm going to do!"_

"You're right." She nods to the boy. "So, what we'll we find?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

**(Time Skip)**

**School District 21**

**Abandoned Relay Outpost**

The two teens travelled to the mountain peaks of School District 21 where they've finally reached the end of the trail of an old relay outpost that was abandoned some years ago. The small building has a large satellite dish on top of the roof and use to relay any forms of communication. However, the place was never used again after Academy City started using orbital satellites.

"The trail ends here." Theron confirms on his scanner.

"This place gives me the creeps for some reason." Saten shudders a bit. "If this is where we'll find it, then what are the original crystals like?"

"Nothing much, other than the fact that at least one large crystal is powerful enough to level all of Tokyo, considering that Academy City WAS the Japanese capital's original industrial district."

The girl's face pales in shock.

"They're THAT destructive?!" She exclaims at in terror.

"Relax." He casually says. "They can only be destroyed if these large crystals absorb too much energy from things such as lasers, plasma, or electrical discharges. And synthetic crystals aren't powerful enough to do that kind of destruction, and like I said earlier, they're only useful enough for demolitions."

"H-How do you know all of this?" She questions further. "A-And more importantly, why hasn't anyone know about their existence?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me at all." Theron cryptically answers as he then puts his scanner away and walks to the front entrance, raising more questions for Saten to ponder.

Not wanting to be left behind, the girl follows him as she is trying to catch up to him. Good thing her brown leathered sandals have ankle straps, otherwise she'd have a hard time running barefoot on concrete or pavement road.

Inside the outpost, the teens see everything all tattered and lifeless. There are a few cracks on the floor, the walls no longer have any paint due to the current condition of the building, and different parts and cords are scattered almost everywhere.

"Stay close." He advises her. "The killer could still be here."

Saten nervously nods as they explore the old place. It's a little quiet to them. Too quiet for mostly Theron's tastes. They then heard sounds echoing through the hallway they're in. The teens look at each other and nod before heading towards a doorway silently. The two then crouch beside each side of it as they listen in on someone talking to another person. Theron's eyes widen in shock as he sees an Imperial officer talking to a Stormtrooper through a monitor screen. How the hell did the Empire get here?

"Sir, we've finished the final preparations for the bomb." The Stormtrooper reports to his commanding officer.

"Excellent work, trooper." The officer with a British (Coruscanti) accent says. "Have your men ready to move out and deliver the bomb to the rendezvous point with discretion. We don't want to keep the invasion force waiting, now would we?"

"Yes sir." The trooper salutes before the screen turns off.

The officer then answers a call with a holo-disk that brings up a hologram of an Imperial soldier wearing Airborne Recon Clone armor. His helmet has a red visor to stand out from other troopers. This is a Purge trooper, an Imperial Clone from the final production line of Clones after Order 66 was issued and were expendable death squads to the Inquisitorius.

"My men have just finished building the bomb so that our forces can secure the city's airfields and communication hubs. As soon as it's detonated, the entire city district will lose some of its defenses so that your forces can secure it without trouble." The officer informs the Imperial Clone.

"And you expect me to compliment your little success after what happened earlier?" The Purge trooper's calmed, angry voice says to the officer through his helmet. "You were expected to finish it months ago. The Inquisitor will no longer tolerate any further delay."

"Do not think you can order me around, soldier!" The officer snaps in anger. "You may follow orders from your superiors and mine, but I'm in charge of this operation, so learn your place!"

"With respect commander, I KNOW my place." He retorts, not flinching by the man's outburst. "You're too blinded by your own pursuit of glory. Make sure everything goes smoothly on your end, or I will begin the attack myself."

When the transmission ended, the officer gritted his teeth and leaves the room through another door. Meanwhile, Theron heard everything he needed to know.

"_The Empire's preparing for a small invasion force on Academy City." Theron deduces in his head. "No doubt the bomb will leave the city's military without superior firepower." _

However, Saten is confused to what is going on. The armor and uniforms they're wearing looks like cosplay that's straight out of a sci-fi film.

"Who are those guys?" The girl whispery questions the Jedi-in-hiding. "It's like they're straight out of a sci-fi film."

"They're not terrorists." He answers with a hint of anger under his breath. "Saten, I need you to get back to School District 7 and contact your friends. Warn them about an attack that's coming."

"Huh?!" She exclaims in shock. "But what's going on here?! I've never seen armor or weapons like that before!"

"Damn it, this isn't a sci-fi movie!" He grips her shoulders to get her to look him in the eye, scaring her a bit by his sudden action. "Billions of lives are at stake here! If these guys take control of the 23rd School district along with the rest of the city, it will make it easier for them to conquer Earth with an iron fist! Otherwise, you can kiss you and your planet's freedom goodbye!"

Unfortunately, he slipped up with his wording as Saten becomes more confused than ever. Theron lets go of her as she takes a step back from him. He said, "'my planet' instead of 'ours'." Why did he say that in complete worriedness? The girl shifts her sandal-wearing feet in discomfort (she does this whenever she's scared, shy, or uncomfortable; basically, a huge habit of hers).

"Who are you?" She asks, becoming scared and conflicted of still trusting him. "And if what you're saying is true, then why did you lie to me and my friends?"

Theron sighs as he just blew his own cover on a girl he just met.

"Listen…" He pauses before speaking again. "I know we just met yesterday and that you have a lot of questions about what's going on, but this isn't the time to play '20 questions' as your home is in danger of being enslaved. You want to be friends with me, right? Well right now, I'm asking you to trust me on this. As your friend. So please… do you trust me?"

Saten, at first, hesitated at what he said to her.

"_He's really going out of his way to put aside his own concerns about lying to me and my friends." The girl thought. "And right now, he's asking me to trust him. I guess Theron and I can relate when it comes to trusting someone you've just met."_

Theron is waiting for an answer from her as he starts to worry that she doesn't. However, he becomes a bit surprised with her honest answer.

"What you did is wrong. Not only you lied to my friends, you've also lied to me." Saten lectures him with a serious tone as she closes her blue eyes and takes a deep breath before smiling to him. "But… since you're being honest with me, I still trust you, even if we just met. You're considered a friend to me and that's what matters."

The boy was shocked by her words. He then gives her a smile as well.

"I guess I owe you, huh?"

"Yep."

He nods slowly at understanding that although they've met, she's still friends with him.

"So, what are you going to do?" She asks.

"What?" He asks, confused by her question.

"I mean, what are you going to do while I head back to School District 7 to warn Shirai and Uiharu?" She repeats her question to him with clarification.

"Oh!" He exclaims in realization. "Right. *ahem* The bomb is about to be delivered to the enemy's rally point, so I'm going to stop them from loading it up."

"How will I be able to contact you when you've stopped them?"

Theron takes something out of his pocket and gives it to her. Saten looks at it and her eyes widen in shock.

"This is my old phone!" She exclaims. "B-But how? I thought I lost it from those Academy City Dark Side thugs that kidnapped me last year."

"Long story short, R4 and I found it on one of the pawnshop's shelves. The late owner must've took it from them and was planning to sell it with the other store merchandise he had."

"You did?" She questions with pure joy. "Thank you, Theron. You don't know how much I've missed this one. Though come to think of it, that means I now have two smartphones."

"You're welcome, Saten." He chuckles at her joyfulness. "Anything for you."

She giggles at his compliment.

"If it's alright with you, what do you mean when you said something about thugs kidnapping you?" Theron curiously asks.

"Oh that?! Well, it's a really long story and it kinda involved a friend that rescued me." She scratches the back of her head with a grin. " *mumbles* Though I never saw her again after that incident. But that's all in the past! I should get back to the city and call Shirai and Uiharu at Judgement about what's happening."

"Go." He nods in agreement before giving a small piece of paper to her. "And take this. You can use that to contact me on my commlink."

"Right." She nods as he then goes inside the room to reach the other door.

Before he does so, he calls out to her who was already leaving.

"Saten." He smiles. "May the Force be with you."

And just like that, he then stealthily enters through the other doorway before the door slides close. Saten, however, was once again confused when he said that phrase. What is he talking about? And most importantly, what's the Force?

Realizing that there's no time to speculate, Saten makes a run towards the building's exit. Once this is all over, Theron's gonna have a lot of explaining to do. And with a mischievous grin, she has something in mind for him that he'll never refuse if he does so. But that'll have to wait as they have a city to defend and save first. Nothing could ever go wrong.

**To be continued…**


	4. Act 1: Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**July 28, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**School District 7**

**177th Judgement Branch Office**

Uiharu's phone rings as this got the girl's attention as she was in the middle of discussing the murder of the pawnshop owner with Shirai and Konori.Noticing Saten's name on her phone, she then answers it.

"Hey Saten, can't this wait?" Uiharu asks, annoyed by being called in the middle of something important. "Shirai and I are kinda busy right now."

_"It's not that, Uiharu." Saten denies truthfully. "I need to tell you something important. And it's connected to the murder."_

"What?!" The Level 1 exclaims, earning the attention from Shirai and Konori.

"Is something wrong Uiharu?" Shirai asks in concern.

Uiharu looks at her partner and their chief officer with a serious look.

"Saten may have a lead on who was behind the murder." She explains before putting Saten on speaker. "I have you on speaker, Saten. Now start from the beginning."

Saten went to explain what she and Theron discovered at an abandoned relay outpost in School District 21 due to both of them investigating the urban legend on certain crystals that connects to the recent murder. However, she decided to not tell them about Theron's little secret she barely knows about as she wants him to tell the truth if he's ready for it.

"Terrorists invading Academy City's 23rd School District while wearing attire that's out of a sci-fi?" Shirai questions dumbfoundedly. "Is this a joke ?"

_"Theron and I aren't lying! He and I saw some guy with a British accent talking to his own forces about delivering a bomb from the abandoned outpost in School District 21! They look nothing like terrorists! And Theron believes that we are facing a planetary alien invasion!" Saten clarifies with desperation in her voice._

"But that's impossible." Konori argues. "There's no way that we are being invaded by humans from space. Not to mention that Academy City's most advanced technology would've picked up any satellite readings in Earth's orbit."

_"I know that sounds crazy and all, but it's true!"_

"Saten, where are you and Theron now?" Uiharu asks. "If you said that there's a bomb that could take out most of Academy City's military defenses, then I'm sure we can come over to you two for help!"

_"I don't think that's possible, Uiharu." The Level 0 answers with a serious tone. "I'm already on a train that's en route to School District 7," Saten answers. "but Theron stayed behind to stop the bomb from being delivered to the enemy's rally point."_

"You left him all by himself?!" Uiharu exclaims in shock.

_"No!" Saten denies. "He told me to warn you and Anti-Skill to track down these invaders since they could begin attacking should their original plan backfire! Theron's really desperate about stopping these guys from invading Academy City. Would I even lie to you about something that could lead us into trouble?"_

The three Judgement officers looked at each other. Saten has always been trustworthy and honest to them along with Misaka. And since her voice doesn't show any signs of lying, then they hate to admit it but it would seem that all of this is true.

"Alright Saten." Konori says. "If you think that Theron's telling the truth, then Uiharu, Shirai, and I trust you."

"I'll contact Anti-Skill to let them know what we just learned. Let's hope that they believe our story." Shirai informs her fellow officers as she gets to work on contacting the city's authorities/military.

"Shouldn't we let Misaka know about the situation?" Uiharu asks. "She does have a habit of getting involved in Judgement business. Plus, it'll be alot faster to stop these invaders with her help."

"I suppose so." Shirai sighs at the mention of her best friend while trying to contact Anti-Skill. "Sissy really likes to nose in Judgement business."

However, there's static in Shirai's earpiece as she's not getting a response at all.

"This is Judgement officer Kuroko Shirai of the 177th branch. Come in." The Teleporter says through her device. "This is Judgement officer Kuroko Shirai. Can you hear me?"

"What's wrong Shirai?" Konori asks.

"I'm not getting a response from Anti-Skill. All I'm getting is static on my end." Shirai explains her problem.

_"Gu-?! *static*" Saten exclaims in confusion. "W-*static*-at's g-*static*-ing on?"_

"Saten? Are you there?!" Uiharu questions, now in panic of what's going on. "Something's wrong with the signal! I just lost contact with Saten!"

"Mine too, Uiharu! Anti-Skill isn't responding!"

**Meanwhile at the abandoned outpost...**

Theron had already taken out most of the troops led by the Imperial commanding officer with only his blaster pistol and a few Earth flashbangs, leaving the latter alive as he has intel that the Jedi needs.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but it looks like you won't be able to complete your objective." Theron says with a smug grin.

The officer, however, laughed.

"If you'd think that delivering the bomb to our rally point, then you are sadly mistaken." He says. "The invasion force would still proceed with the operation even if I failed. Therefore, I still win and there's nothing for you Earthlings to stop the taking of this planet."

"Really now?" The Jedi crosses his arms. "If that's the case, then I guess you're unaware that I was able to warn the authorities about your plan and will root out your little invasion force."

"I figured you would say that." The officer cooly replies to the boy. "Imperial forces would've jammed all communications by now should the original part of the plan fail."

"What?" Theron says in shock, realizing he underestimated him.

"It would seem that the city's military police force won't be able to answer your calls, boy." He reveals with a laugh.

Theron has enough of this and starts Force choking him. The officer struggles to break free with his hands but it was no use.

"I don't have time to play games, you Imperial bastard!" Theron snarls angrily. "Tell me everything about your operation! Now!"

The officer didn't hesitate and turns his head over to a datapad for the Jedi to look at.

"You're still too late. Ack!" He gasps for air as he is being choked to death. "And once we've taken control of Academy City's 23rd School District, there won't be anyone to stop us from taking the entire city along with the entire planet!"

"Don't count on it." Theron retorts before Force crushing his neck, killing the officer as the dead body now collapses on the floor.

Theron that picks up the datapad and attempts to gain access to the data but learns that it's heavily encrypted.

"Damn, it's encypted!" He curses. "I may know how to hack computers but this seems to be out of my league. Maybe R4 would have any luck with it."

He then takes out his commlink to contact his droid.

"R4, I managed to stop the Empire from transporting the bomb to their rally point. Unfortunately, I can't decrypt the intel on this datapad I have with me."

_"The Empire's here?!" R4 beeps frantically. "How's that even possible?! Nevermind, just send me the data now so I can take a crack at it. In the meantime, you might want to head over to School District 2. I'm getting no communication signals from the city's military police force."_

"It looks like an Imperial strike team are planning to destroy the military facilities in that district while the rest of the invasion force are focusing on taking the airfields and communications center." The Jedi deduces. "If the Empire takes out Anti-Skill, then there won't be enough men to take back School District 23 and get the city's defenses back up and running. I'll head to that district and make sure to keep Anti-Skill alive if they're going to take the largest district back from the enemy. Be sure to let me know when you have that data decrypted. Might be useful for later."

"Then hurry up and get your ass over there, meatbag!" The astromech pesters. "The fate of Earth is now in your hands."

Theron then sends the data to R4 via commlink and makes his way back outside when he notices an Imperial speeder bike along with other empty vehicles. He then smirks at how he can get to School District 2 much faster.

**School District 2**

**Anti-Skill HQ**

Blaster fire is heard in the afternoon with clouds covering the blue sky as a squadron of eight, led by a Stormtrooper commander with a red pauldron, areadvancing on the main gates of the large HQ. Anti-Skill are doing their best holding the line but have lost a few of their own by blaster fire to the chest or head as their assault rifles have no effect on Stormtrooper armor, which by the way is garbage to the superior Clone armor from the Clone Wars. Luckily, one leading Anti-Skill officer has managed to keep the enemy from getting any closer with the use of riot shields by her own men. For now, the battle is at a stalemate.

"Hold your ground, men!" The Anti-Skill officer shouts to her men as she and they use the riot shields to block the blaster fire from the Stormtroopers' E-11 blaster rifles. _"Damn! Communciations are still down, and without those unmanned choppers, we're screwed!"_

There was no way for Anti-Skill to hold of the Imperials due to the latter hiding behind cover and gaining the superior firepower against them. One of the troopers pop out of cover and threw an implosion grenade in front of the the riot shields Anti-Skill are using. The leading woman looks down as the grenade starts beeping faster and her eyes widen in horror.

"Grenade!" She shouts to her men to move away from it but it was too late as it created an implosion before exploding, sending them flying through the gate that's now been breached. The remains of the grenade left behind debris that's already on fire and is scattered everywhere.

The woman lies flat on the ground as she winces in pain, bruises and cuts on her face. At least her kevlar vest protected her from being killed. She then looks around to see that more of her men have been killed or severely injured but still in condition to keep fighting.

_"At least some of us are okay." She sighs in relief. "Unfortunately, there's very few of us soldiers left and backup is three minutes away."_

The Imperial squadron then walk onto the HQ grounds with their blasters in their hands.

"Troopers, fan out and secure the inside of the building." The Stormtrooper commander orders his men. "Command wants us to eliminate any resistance that may come at us."

"Yes sir!" One of his men answers without hesitation.

The woman struggles to get up when she heard them as she can understand English. But before she can do anything, the sound of a speeder bike is heard as the Imperial troops turn around to see that it's being driven by a teenage boy and has already opened fired on them using the speeder's guns.

"Blast him!" The armored commander exclaims.

He and his squadron open fire to try and take him out but the boy hopped off as it keeps speeding towards them. The troopers then realize it and manage to jump out of the way just in time, resulting the bike to crash into an Anti-Skill armored truck which then explodes in the process. The boy turns out to be none other than Theron as he then stands up and open fires with his own blaster pistol, taking out four troopers in a 3.2 second quickdraw. The remaining four continue to fire at him but keep missing due to the Jedi sidestepping each blaster bolt they threw at him. And with a cocky smirk, Theron then throws an EMP grenade at them, which detonated and fried the power cells in their blasters. With their guard down, he then charges through the opened gate and quickly takes out the last four of them with a few gunslinging moves.

With the threat over for now, Theron holsters his blaster and walks to the injured Anti-Skill.

"You alright?" He asks as he offers a hand to the woman.

"We're okay. Just a bit bruise but we've been through worse before." She answers with a nod as he pulls her back up on her feet. "What's a kid like you doing here anyway?"

"When I got word that you and your guys were pinned down, I couldn't let you be slaughtered by those Imperials."

"Is that what they call themselves?" She asks curiously as she looks around to see that her men are helping each other up. "They look like terrorists in cosplay to me."

"They're not terrorists." He shakes his head in amusement. He just had this discussion with Saten earlier. "They're called Stormtroopers since they're the footsoldiers of the Empire."

"Stormtroopers? Empire?" The woman repeats those words in confusion. "Just what's going on then?"

"I'd rather explain when we're not in the middle of an invasion." He mutters loud enough for her to hear. "But other than that, I'm Theron Skywalker. And as for you're question ma'am-."

"Call me Yomikawa." Aiho Yomikawa interrupts.

"Right." He nods. "As for you're question miss Yomikawa, the Empire have infiltrated Academy City in the hopes of disabling your city's military and defenses. My friend Saten has passed the warning to Judgement in hopes for them to reach you, but it seems that Imperial forces have jammed all city-wide communications so you wouldn't be able to call for reinforcements."

"Wait a sec, you know Saten?" Yomikawa questions in shock. "Are you a transfer student?"

"No ma'am." He denies truthfully. "I'm just a simple tourist and just met her, Misaka, Shirai, and Uiharu yesterday after a misunderstanding."

"If you know about how the enemy thinks and moves, then you have to tell us anything so that we might be able drive these invaders out of Academy City." The Anti-Skill woman convinces.

"I'm working on that." He says before turning around to see Anti-Skill reinforcements have arriving on the scene. He then turns to the woman. "Can you still fight?"

"Like I said before, we've been through worse." She reminds him. "But I've never seen weapons and armor like that before, and it's clear that their technology is more advanced, even for Academy City."

"Good. For now, make sure that any of your severely injured is treated to a hospital immediately." He orders as he begins walking away, even though he's not a soldier. "And while you're at that, prepare for a counterattack on the enemy in School District 23. I'm heading over there to get city's communications and any defenses that are still in condition back up and running."

"You're doing this alone?!" Yomikawa exclaims with concern as it's her job to protect children. "You're 17 years old! You'll be shot on sight by those Imperials! Even if you could get past their own defenses, they've already taken over the only international airport in both the district and the enitre city, which they most likely have hundreds of hostages being held there! And you're forgetting that most of my men are in no condition in fighting, so a counterattack wouldn't work with Anti-Skill scattered."

The Jedi stops in his tracks and realizes that she's right. There's no way to take back the city district without endangering the hostages's own safety. This is probably too much for him to handle on his own, and with Anti-Skill half-crippled, there's aren't any men to be spared for mounting a proper rescue mission. But suddenly, an idea formed into his head.

"First of all, I'm 15." He corrects her about his exact age before continuing to walk away again. "Secondly, I won't be doing it alone."

"Where are you going?" Yomikawa questions.

"Back to School District 7." He answers, not stopping to face her. "I think I know who can help me."

**Back in School District 7...**

"Damn it!" Misaka curses aloud. "Why am I not getting any signal?!"

Our favorite Railgun is angry that her Gekota flip phone isn't recieving any reception as she's trying to contact her friends while walking down the streets. The people around her are also busy trying to figure out why their own cell reception isn't working to no avail.

"I don't know what's going on but I've tried calling on Shirai and the others one at a time. I can't even reach for that Idiot since last I heard, he's on some trip with that Silver Sister in England." She rants to herself. "There's something going on here. But what is it exactly?"

Misaka then closes her phone and sighs frustratingly. None of this makes any sense to her. First communications are down, and now School District 23 is cut off from the rest of Academy City? If only she had answers. Just then, Misaka notices a familiar girl running on another sidewalk in the opposite direction from where the Level 5 is going.

_"It's Saten!" She says to herself. "But where exactly is she going?"_

Saten kept on running as she is making her way to the Judgement office in the 7th School District.

_"I need to get to Uiharu, Shirai, and Konori." Saten desperately says to herself. "My phone isn't getting any cell reception and I'm not sure if those guys in white armor got to them."_

"Hey!" Misaka shouts from behind as she runs towards her.

Saten stops running and turns around to notice her.

"Misaka! Oh thank goodness that you're okay! I've been trying to reach you when the cell reception has been jammed."

"You too, Saten." Misaka smiles briefly. "I saw you running, so I was wondering where you're going and why you're in a hurry."

"Oh, that." The Level 0 scratches the back of her head before turning serious. "But first, I need to tell you something important that may be alot to take in and would literally blow your mind.

Saten began explaining her story like she did with Uiharu, Shirai, and Konori. It was no surprise to her that Misaka reacted the same way she and their friends did. Misaka did find it alot to take all that new information in, but in the end she still trusts her friend. However, she was more suspicious about how Theron knows these white armored guys with weapons that shoot lasers bolts.

"I know it sound like a bunch of nonsense but-." Saten elaborates before Misaka interrupts her.

"Say no more, Saten. I understand." She says. "You're still my friend and that's what matters. However, what I don't understand is how Theron knows these guys you described to me. And since that they're jamming all communication to prevent Anti-Skill to mount a counterattack, it's most likely that they've already taken control of School District 23's international airport and the military airbases along with the main communications hub and Academy City's only silo-type mass driver."

"A mass driver?" The Level 0 curiously asks. "Isn't that like a railgun that shoots payloads into Earth's orbit or space? You mentioned it once before."

"Yeah. They launch them at high speeds either as packages to other Academy City bases in foreign countries, or is used as an orbital cannon." Misaka explains as she recalls to herself about using it once - with the help of a certain unlucky boy - to launch a powerful magic god into space to save the city itself from being destroyed by the old husk's (literally looks like one) godly magic powers (NT Volume 13, Magic God Invasion Arc). But that's another story. "By the way, is alright if I go with you to the Judgement office? You'll probably need my help in finding a way to take back School District 23 before these invaders advance further on the rest of Academy City."

"Of course." Saten accepts her help. "Uiharu, Shirai, Konori, and I were planning to anyway before I lost contact with them. I just hope that nothing happens to them."

**177th Branch Judgement Office **

About 10 minutes later, both Saten and Misaka reached their destination with the former more worried for Uiharu as they are best friends and the flower headed girl promised to her about never leaving her like a girl known as Frenda did.

"Saten, slow down!" Misaka exclaims as they run up the stairs of the office building. "You don't have to worry about them! They know what they're doing!"

"I'm more worried about Uiharu." Saten says as they reach the floor and walk to the office room where Uiharu, Shirai, and Konori hang out. "She and I have been best friends ever since elementary school."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Misaka asks, concern about her friend.

"Nah." The Level 0 shakes her head with a reassuring smile. "I'll be alright. Nothing to worry about."

Misaka nods but feels that there's more to it than that. So she decides to leave the subject alone for now. The two enter the room and are surprised to see that Uiharu, Shirai, and Konori are talking to Theron and R4.

"Saten! Misaka!" Uiharu exclaims with joy. "You two are okay!"

"I could say the same thing to you, Uiharu." Saten says with a grin. "And since you were so worried about me..."

Saten then flips Uiharu's middle school uniform skirt revealing her own panties that has hearts on them.

_"What the hell?!" Theron exclaims in his head as he wasn't expecting this kind of behavior from the skirt-flipping, carefree girl._

"Oooh." The girl says with a michievous look on her face. "Seems that you were worried about us."

"Kyahhhhhhh!" Uiharu screams in embarassment as she blushes deep red.

"Ahem!" Theron interrupts the two as everyone looks at him though they notice the redness on his cheeks. "I hate to interrupt your litte perverted bonding but I suggest we start getting to work on how to take back School District 23 and drive the Empire off-world."

"The Empire?" Misaka and Saten question aloud in confusion.

"Think of them as the Nazis, but in space." Theron nods. " And they're a galactic regime that's been enslaving other star systems where I'm from. Or more specifically, the different reality I'm from."

"Hold on, you're telling us that you come from another universe along with these Imperials?!" Shirai questions with a dumbfounded look. "But that's impossible! The multiverse theory is just a theory!"

"Why didn't you give me the name of who these guys are?" Saten demands as she walks and stands in front of him with jab of her index finger on his chest, slightly angry that he left that part out.

"I didn't have time to tell you everything when that bomb was about to be sent elsewhere." He explains calmly.

"You stopped it then?" She asks further.

"Yes. Unfortunately, an Imperial strike team destroyed most of Anti-Skill that were stationed in their main HQ in School District 2. I was lucky to arrive just in time to same some of them but there's not enough of them to mount a counterattack and a rescue mission in School District 23. And with both the airport and communications center taken over, the Empire most likely have set up some of their own defenses to keep us out until they contact the nearby small fleet they were sent from."

"Damn!" Shirai curses when he told them this. "So they're holding the people at the airport, both foriegners and low level espers alike? Things just got complicated."

"And without any support from Anti-Skill, I don't think Judgement would be able to do this on their own. We're meant to keep the peace in Academy City from criminals and terrorists, not alien invaders that are humans from another galaxy!"

"It's why I'm going to need your help in driving the enemy off of Earth."

"But you're a civilian." Konori argues. "It's probably best that we wait till backup deals with them."

"And I have a blaster and a bit more experience with these sons of bitches." Theron retorts as he takes out his blaster pistol and shows it to them who have shocked looks on their faces. "What's left of you're city-state's military would be massacred in minutes. The Empire's own technology outclasses your own. And in a few hours, this city will fall along with the rest of the Earth. Are you really ready for that?"

The girls except for Saten look at each other and realize that he's right on this one. They then look back at him.

"Look..." He sighs. "It's not that I judge Earth's technology and its accomplishments, it's just that the Empire would try to offer an alliance to humanity, only for them to backstab you not long after. And don't forget that your planet's different economies and goverments would collapse should they all unite under the Imperial banner. I hate to say this but Earth won't survive an invasion without my help."

"He's right, guys. Plus, I've already decided to help him." The Level 0 stands beside the boy, determination in her eyes. "We've saved the city multiple times before, and that hasn't stopped us. If the Empire is capable of this kind of power like Theron has told us, then what choice do we have? We let them take Academy City - the most advanced civilization on our planet - then not only would the city that we know and love fall into their hands, but they will turn their attention on the rest of humanity, forcing us into whatever submission we could possibly face. I won't stand by like I once did before and allow more people to lose their lives! And I believe in doing what's right! We can do this, whether we like it or not!"

Everyone in the room was moved by Saten's inspiring speech. If they let the Empire get what they want, then what choice do they have? Not to mention that Academy City is still finishing its recovery from last December's heat waves. They can't handle something that's out of this world alone, no matter how much they hate to admit it.

"I'm with you and Theron, Saten." Uiharu speaks first as she stands in front of her best friend and Theron. "You're still my best friend and I owe you for rescuing me in the 2nd Reformatory."

"Me too." Misaka says with a determined grin. "You can always count on me."

"Same here." Shirai joins in as well. "You won't be alone on this."

Last but not least, Konori gives a satisfying sigh.

"Spoken like a true hero, Saten." The Level 3 Judgement chief officer says.

Saten laughs as her cheeks turn pink flattered by her friends.

"Ah, you guys..." The urban legend hunter says with her hand behind her head.

"It seems your words managed to inspire them, Saten." Theron teases with a smirk.

"I second to that." R4 agrees with his close companion, despite the girl not able to understand him at all.

"U-Uh, thanks." She says to the Jedi-in-hiding as her blush starts turning red, avoiding eye contact from him.

"Now that we're all in the same boat," Misaka changes the subject as she and her friends focus their attention on their newer friends. "do you have a plan on how we can beat them? I'd be honored to mow down those invaders with my Railgun if you like."

Theron looks at his astromech that's at his side and gives his new friends a cocky smirk. This is going to be one hell of a fight for them.

**To be continued...**


	5. Act 1: Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**July 28, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**School District 7**

**177th Branch Judgement Office**

"Now that we're all in the same boat," Misaka changes the subject as she and her friends focus their attention on their newer friends. "do you have a plan on how we can beat them? I'd be honored to mow down those invaders with my Railgun if you like."

Theron looks at his astromech that's at his side and gives his new friends a cocky smirk.

"I do, actually." He says, his smirk not changing. "R4?"

The astromech beeps, complying to his master's order and ejects a computer disc out of his dome.

"Thanks, buddy." The boy pets his droid's dome before tossing th disc drive to Uiharu.

"..."

"R4 was able to decrypt the data and transfer it on that disc. That way, we'll be able to learn about the Empire's next move. Troop movements, tactics, vehicles, weapons, and so on."

The hacker nods as she then goes to her workstation and inserts the disc into her assigned desktop. Her friends including Theron then stand beside her as she brings up the first file.

"Hey, is it just me or are those blasters look familiar somehow?" Konori wonders.

"They do look like the Sterling MK IV submachine gun the British used back in World War II, after all." Misaka nods, understanding what she's talking about.

"Those are the standard issue blaster rifle those Stormtroopers use ." Theron briefly explains. "Light but powerful as it's versatile with three functions: lethal - blaster bolts in red, stun - cirular blue bolts that could knock you out, and sting - bolts in yellow for combat training."

"I'm guessing these Stormtroopers are the guys in white armor." Shirai says.

"Yeah."

"What about ammunition?" Saten asks. "They have to be powered by batteries of some kind."

"Power cells, Saten." Uiharu corrects her close friend. "Standard issue ones carry enough energy for 200 shots. However, if the blaster uses a cartridge it could last for more than 500."

"What about those?" Misaka points at the other variations of the rifle shown on the screen.

"That's an E-11D." The hacker answers. "A variation of the E-11 with a reinforced barrel. And that's an E-22, which is more powerful than the standard Imperial rifle."

"Yeah, and the E-11Ds are used by Death troopers." Theron says as he changes the screen to a a type of Stormtrooper with a different set of armor and helmet that's all in black. "They're an elite black ops group that specializes in stealth, espionage and lethality under the jurisdiction of Imperial Intelligance. They also serve as bodyguards for high-ranking Imperial officers. I've never fought one before, but at least we won't be seeing them on Earth anytime soon."

"Well 'black ops' is spelled all over them." Shirai rolls her eyes. "So are there any other trooper variants we should worry about?"

"Aside from the ones I've told you about, there's the Scout trooper - they specialize in speeder bikes, marksmanship, and recon. They also have these shock batons that are the size of a sword but are very easy to take out."

"You left out the part where our own weapons can't penetrate their armor." Shirai deadpans with an annoyed look.

"I'm getting there." He calmly says, not bothered by her expression. "Anyways, there are more Stormtrooper variants but since there are too many to explain and we're short on time, all I can think of is that the armor have weak spots between the plating as their bodysuits aren't durable against bullets. Plus, electric shocks can instantly knock them out even in their armor, depending if they can stay awake to tolerate the shocks."

"Leave that to me then." Misaka smirks. "After all, I'm a Level 5, so I can just easily knock them out with no problem."

"Good thinking." Theron nods. "That way, we won't have to worry about taking our time in reclaiming School District 23. I'd rather avoid taking them head on with reinforcements with them since R4 wouldn't be able to tase all of them on his own. No offense."

"None taken, meatbag." Beeps the droid.

"So what's the plan?" Saten asks.

"Simple. We take the sewers and make our way over the district. We should be able to slip past the enemy undetected." He shrugs as he brings up the city map and sewer system.

"You're kidding." Saten says nervously.

"I'm not. Smuggling ourselves in wouldn't work as they would inspect any form of cargo shipments. Not to mention, they partol the parimeter of the area they're in control of. If you don't like the smell, then suck it up. Stopping the Empire from conquering Earth is more important than complaining about it."

"Fine." The Level 0 sighs in defeat, seeing that he has a point.

"Thank you." Theron says before getting back on topic. "Now once we've made it past the troops, Uiharu will then regain control of the city's main communciations center and use it call any available Anti-Skill,where they will then help take back the school district from any remaining forces still standing. Misaka, you and I will keep the Imperials focused on us while Saten, Shirai, and Konori get the hostages to safety."

"So we're splitting up, then?"

"It's the only option we have right now. If any of you encounter any trouble, get out of there. Getting yourselves killed wouldn't do any good for all of us."

"You can count on us, Theron." Konori assures him. "We'll be alright."

"Good." He nods. "Then get everything sorted out. We're heading out in half an hour."

**School District 23**

**Main Communications Center (Not far from the Academy City International Airport)**

**Around 2:43 P.M.**

"We've secured the main communications hub, Inquisitor." The Purgetrooper says to the hologram form of his superior.

"Excellent work, trooper." The Inquisitor replies calmly. "The fleet orbiting Titan (one of Saturn's 62 moons) is awaiting on standby. But I sense that you are slightly troubled. What is it then?"

"We've run into a little trouble in capturing the place." The black clad trooper explains. "A girl ambushed us with explosives but we managed to subdue and used the mind probe to extract what she knows of the operation."

"What sort of information were you able to extract?"

"She was resisting the mind probe as best she could but it didn't last long. From what the probe showed us, it seems that she comes from a line of clones that can communicate and share information between a single brainwave network."

"How interesting." The Jedi Hunter's modulated voice speaks through the helmet. "Continue with the operation as planned. The commander in charge has already failed for the last time, a minor setback that can easily be fixed. You are commander now, PT-3571."

The trooper, suprisingly, is shocked that he has been promoted but remains calm.

"Thank you, Inquisitor." The trooper says. "And what of the girl?"

"Learn what you can about the clone and extract anything else she might know. It may prove useful for the Inquisitorious." The Inquisitor commands.

"It will be done." PT-3571 obeys with a nod before turning off his handheld holo-communicator.

The Purgetrooper then turns around and sees that his prisoner is already awake. She has the facial features and body figure of Mikoto Misaka. She is a Sister from a line of the remaining 9,969 clones of the Railgun known as the Sisters. Aside that they all wear a set of special goggles they use to track electrons because they don't have the ability to do so like the original host does, the only difference from this clone is that she doesn't speak in narrative third person, similar to the prototype clone the Sisters are already aware of, and her hair is chest length tied into a pony tail and is dyed a dirty blonde.

"You're awake." He says. "Good. It would be very annoying that I wouldn't be able to extract more info out of you if you weren't."

"What do you hope to accomplish?" The Sister asks. "It will only be a matter of time before this district is back in Academy City hands."

"If you are referring to the city's miltary police, my men have already reduced most of their numbers." PT-3571 says, not fazed by her words.

"It's not them you should be afraid of." The girl smirks. "Once he knows that I've gone missing, he'll come looking for me, and he's going to kick your ass."

The Purgetrooper then slaps the cuffed girl, causing to fall on her side as she yelps from the hard slap that left a bruise on her right cheek.

"Watch your tongue, girl." He silences her with a snarl. "It'll be too late for them by the time the fleet arrives and occupies this city. And when that happens, this planet will be under Imperial control."

The Sister still feels the bruise and couldn't rub it due to being cuff. However, she (and her Sisters due to the Misaka Network) has so many questions on what he's talking about. However, those thoughts are soon interrupted when he hand signals his troops.

"You three, stay here and make sure no one tries to take back control of any city communication." He commands. "The rest of you, establish a perimeter outside of the facility. I'll be taking the girl with me for further interrogation."

The Stormtroopers comply as the commander gets the Sister on her feet and drags her to another location. Perhaps she will cooperate more unless she want innocent blood on her hands.

**Elsewhere...**

"Damn it. These Sisters are a real pain in the ass sometimes." A boy with white hair, red eyes, and pale skin mutters to himself in annoyance. "How am I suppose to have some fucking peace and quiet when that brat keeps pestering me about one of them going missing?"

**30 minutes earlier...**

"Misaka Misaka is worried about her, says Misaka Misaka scared that something might've happened to her!" The little girl known as Last Order exclaims in panic. She is the controller of the whole Misaka Network and the last Sister of the original line of clones as her number Misaka 20001.

"Hey! What are you yammering on about?" The boy asks, angry that his alone time has been interrupted by her. "I can hear your loud voice from my room!"

"You're finally awake! Misaka Misaka has been trying to wake you up like an hour ago, says Misaka Misaka as she's angry that you took forever to wake up!"

"Oi, Worst. I thought I told you to make sure I wasn't disturbed while I was sleeping." He says to another Misaka clone, who appears to be the same age as him except that she is from a new line of clones that are the Sisters' successors.

"Misaka has been this whole time." The older-looking clone known as Misaka Worst shrugs without a care in the world with a smug expression on her face. "Unfortunately, Last Order says that it was important so I just opened the door for her so that you can wake up from your little beauty sleep."

"Tch." He responds with his trademark annoyed expression.

"One of the Sisters went off on her own last night and hasn't reported back through the Misaka Network. And now Misaka Misaka is getting worried for her, explains Misaka Misaka for her reason of waking you up and feels sorry for disturbing you."

"You have a phone, brat. Can't you just contact Yomikawa or Yoshikawa about this? It's not like my electrode can go on forever." The teen asks as he then picks up the apartment phone and calls Yomikawa first but got no response. He then tries Yoshikawa's cell number, still no response. Suspicious, he then uses his cell phone to call both of them but still gets no reception. "Something's wrong with the reception."

"Maybe Academy City's main communications center is under maintenance." Worst guesses. "Probably their lazy asses made it tiresome for the tech guys."

"If there was a maintenance, Academy City would've gotten it back online in less than an hour." He points out that the city is advanced enough to do a maintenance in lesser time. "Unless someone's disrupting any communications that are being used."

"Probably that Sister must've ended up there to check it out on her own. She is one of the two clones that speaks in the first person like a normal human would, and I heard she's more a troublemaker than a certain Last Order."

"And what's that suppose to mean?!, shouts Misaka Misaka as she is offended by Worst's choice of words."

"Tch." He says before putting on his retractable crutch gauntlet and shoes before making his way to the apartment door.

"And where do you think you're going?" Worst asks with a grin.

"I'm heading out for some more coffee." He answers. "I'll be back soon."

Before Last Order could say anything, the teen has already exit the apartment and starts walking onto the streets of School District 7. Instead of going for some coffee, however, he makes his way to School District 23 to investigate the communication disruption and look for the missing Sister clone.

**Present day**

The teen sighs as he arrived at a monorail terminal, only to find that the train to School District 23 isn't available due to the district strangely being on lockdown.

"Tch. Screw this." He says with annoyance as he turns on his electrode and uses his Esper power to manipulate the vectors and starts jumping from rooftop to rooftop toward his destination.

After the incident in England last December, the teen upgraded the time limit on his usage on the electrode collar and its battery so that it could last for a few more hours while using half of his power. And if he did try to use his full power, then he would only last a few minutes before the battery dies out and goes crippled in walking and vocal communication, including his Esper ability. It's the only reason why he's relying on the Misaka Network to perform calculations for his ability usage due to being shot in the head by some lucky evil bastard, losing most of his power in the proccess. That was all in the past and he is a different person now. He is Accelerator, Academy City's first ranked Level 5 and the city's strongest Esper!

And boy, the Imperials are sure in for a surprise.

**To be continued...**


	6. Act 1: Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**July 28, 2023**

**Academy City Sewers**

**Beneath School District 23**

"You know what? I'm starting to have second thoughts about trekking in here." Shirai complains in disgust as she and her companions cross a bridge over a large ravine of sewer water.

"Now I know why Saten hates the smell that stinks down here." Uiharu agrees with her partner, holding her nose from the stink.

"Be happy that we don't have to walk in the water to reach our objective, guys." Theron reminds the ones complaining, getting annoyed with their bitching as he isn't bothered by the smell like Misaka and Konori. "If you spent more time in preparing for an invasion instead of lowering your guard like what happened last year, perhaps you wouldn't be in this situation."

"And you know better?" Saten raises her eyebrow, slightly offended by his words.

"This isn't the first time I've been into a sewer, trust me."

"Hey!" R4 beeps. "Quit being a ladiesman and help me out here, meatbag."

"Whatever." He rolls his eyes as the boy helps his astromech in opening the manhole beneath them.

Theron climbs up the ladder and slowly opens the manhole cover. He notices that they're already inside one of the communications center's garages. He also sees two Scout troopers guarding the entrance.

"How come we get guard duty, while the others get to have some fun with the hostages at the spaceport?" One of them whines.

"It's not a spaceport." The other reminds him.

"Looks like one to me."

"Didn't you pay attention to the briefing? This planet isn't advanced enough for that kind of tech."

"They're not? *sighs* I don't know why the Empire bothers in coming back to this backwater world. I rather be on the frontlines fighting our enemies in other systems than be part of this invasion."

"Well according to the probe droids we've sent in, this planet is the birthplace of humans."

"Aren't we human, too? If that's the case, how come we never heard of this primitive world?"

"That's one of life's greatest mysteries, isn't it?" He shrugs, not caring if it's true or not.

"Yeah. At least we have the high ground."

Theron became lost in thought.

_'Other star systems? Inhabitable ones like Earth? For how long?'_

"Hey!" Shirai whispers loudly from below. "What's going on up there?"

"Shh!" He shushes the Teleporter. "Scout troopers."

His newfound friends remain silent when says that, and nod seriously. Misaka climbs the ladder and is beside the boy, wanting to get a good look at them, too.

"Let's take them!" Misaka whispers, ready to jump out of the manhole and knock them out with her powers.

"Nononono, wait!" Theron stops her from making a rash action. Luckily, the Scout troopers didn't hear them.

"What do you mean wait?! We can easily take them!" She angrily whispers.

"True, but there are alternatives to fighting." He suggests before taking out a small pellet the size of a golf ball.

Theron then tosses it across the garage, stopping at the Scout troopers' feet.

"Hey what's that?" One of them questions as they look down at the pellet.

The other trooper then picks it up, holding it with his two fingers. Suddenly, the pellet releases a small cloud of gas.

"What the-?" He exclaims before he and his comrade collapse on the floor, fully unconscious.

Theron then lifts and hops out of the grate along with Misaka, who was not happy at all.

"That was no fun at all." She mutters disappointedly as the others climb out of the manhole.

"And what good would that do if one of them alerts more troops to our position? We're trying to take back the city's communciation hub quietly, not draw attention to ourselves."

"You have a point." The Railgun facepalms, realizing that she forgot what they're doing here in the first place.

After R4 flies out of the manhole last, Theron hides the bodies behind a few cargo containers while Uiharu looks for a way to the central control room.

"How long do you think those two would be out before they wake up and call for reinforcements?" Shirai asks about the unconscious troopers.

"Eh, about 2-3 hours." Theron shrugs with a guess. "Why?"

"I suggest we have Anti-Skill send over their nearest squad if they're still any left, that is."

"I agree, Shirai." Konori nods with her arms crossed. "That way, it'll be easier to keep this place from falling back into Imperial hands. Plus, we might be able to hold these men in for questioning."

"And maybe we can learn a bit more of where exactly they came from." Theron adds. "If we're lucky, we might get our hands on a fully intact Imperial starship and it's navigation logs."

"What's so important about a ship's logs?" Saten curiously asks.

"They house coordinates of star systems either under their control or not." He answers her question. "It may not be important to you and your city's leaders, but it is to me."

"Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I think I managed to find a way inside the control room." Uiharu says, getting her friends' attention.

"That was quick." The Teleporter comments.

"Well, I am Academy City's best hacker after all." The flower haired girl smiles with pride.

"So what did you find that could help us avoid alerting the entire facility?"

Uiharu nervously chuckles.

"The thing is, is that the hallways are rigged with heat sensors. If we go through that doorway, they can track body heat signatures in an instant and we'd be gunned down by our city's own defenses that they might've reprogrammed. However, the only way past them is through the ventilation system."

"Meatbag's it." R4 suggests.

"No. Way." Theron refuses before pointing at the small vent. "I'm pretty sure there are laser defense grids in place, and that vent is too small for me to fit in there."

"Chicken."

"I am not!" He angrily denies.

"Focus!" Konori interrupts them. "So if we're left with the ventilation system, then we'll need someone to go in and disable the security defenses."

"Sissy can do it." Shirai suggests.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Misaka shakes her head. "If Theron's not doing it, then I'm not it."

"This isn't the time to argue about hating the vents, Sissy." The Teleporter groans in annoyance. "Theron and Konori can't fit in there, and only the four of us can except that you have the capability to temporarily disable and get past the ventilation's laser defense grids."

Shirai has a point there. Misaka is the only one in the group to get past the vent's laser defenses in order to reach the room.

"Fine..." Misaka groans in annoyance and defeat.

After Theron opened the grate for her, the Level 5 begins crawling through the ducts. A few minutes later, she runs into a several laser grids invisible to the human eye. Good thing her electromaster abilities was able to detect the sensors's electronic signals. With a simple usage, Misaka temporarily manipulates the sensors to shut off momentarily for her to pass through before they turn back on.

_"This is ridiculous. Me crawling in the vents?! I'd rather charge through and be done with it, not sneak around!" She complains inside her head while continuing to crawl inside the air ducts. "(sighs) Then again, there might be some newer defense mechanism that prevents Espers from using their powers."_

Banishing those paranoid thoughts, Misaka finally made it to the room above her where the grate is shut tight.

"Bingo!" She says to herself with a quiet whisper in her voice.

She then notices two Stormtroopers monitoring through the security cameras for anything that's hostile in the hallways. Suddenly, she notices a spider crawling onto to her fingers. Her face pales in fright, completely scared of bugs. In pure instinct, she smacks the spider into one of the vent wall, accidentally making a sound from her action.

"Hey, did you hear that?" A male trooper asks as he heard something in the vents above them.

"It's probably nothing." A female trooper shrugs, not bothering to check. "Might be rodents in the air ducts."

Back with Misaka, her mouth is covered with her left hand, panicking of giving away her position and risk them to call for more. However, she calms down when they don't bother to check where she's hiding in.

"That was close." She quietly sighs in relief.

Quietly removing the vent grate off, Misaka then hops down in front of them and rubs her hands to create electrical sparks and then tases them with a touch from both hands, knocking them out in the proccess. Pulling the downed Stormtroopers to the side (which were heavy, btw), she then uses her hacking tool and powers to disable the security measures that were active all over the facility.

"I got the defenses down." Misaka informs her friends through her earpiece. "Come on up, you guys."

It wasn't long for them to meet up with her in the control room as the door opens for them.

"Took you long enough, Sissy." Shirai says.

"I think you should be thanking me Kuroko." Misaka crosses her arms with a smirk. "The computers were too easy to hack. Someone really needs to upgrade those protocals."

"Alright, Uiharu. Work your magic." Theron says as he looks around. "We don't have much time left before they realize that the communications center has been taken back."

"Roger that. I'm on it." Uiharu nods before taking a seat at one of the computers and begins hacking the mainframe.

A few minutes passed, and she has successfully regain control of city communications.

"Voila, and that's it. This entire center is now under Academy City control again."

"Nice work, Uiharu." Saten compliments with a grin.

"I'm surprised that there aren't any dead bodies lying around here." Theron mentions with another look around of the area.

"This place is run by computers, so there's no need for technicians doing the work." The flower haired girl explains as she continues to type.

Just then, Uiharu picks up a signal on an Anti-Skill frequency channel.

_"bzzzz- If anyone reads -bzzzz- respo -bzzzz- over?" A familiar voice says._

"It's Yomikawa!" Konori exclaims.

"Can you clear up the interference?" Shirai asks her partner.

"I'll do what I can, but the jamming frequency must've damage whatever left on here." She says.

The screen then reveals Yomikawa with the signal barely working.

_"It's you girls!" The woman exclaims in shock. "Just what are you five doing over there?!"_

"It's a long story, but we have Theron to thank for that." Misaka quickly explains.

_"Theron's there, too?" Yomikawa questions. "Let me talk to him."_

"He's all yours." The hacker complies as she scoots over a bit for him.

"I told you I had a plan, ma'am." Theron smirks. "Communications are up and running again. So, how goes with what reinforcements you can spare?"

_"Not good." Yomikawa shakes her head. "Most of my men are still injured from the firefight, but I don't think we can help you with taking back School District 23 in full force with very little we can spare. Not until you find a way to bring the aerial drones back online for fire support."_

"Uiharu?" He asks her sitting beside him.

"Half of the drones are currently down and need time to power up." She says.

_"How long?" Yomikawa asks._

"It's too soon to tell. But by my estimation, it'll take about an hour."

_"Not good enough." Yomikawa frustratingly says. "Do what you can to bring them back online faster. In the meantime, the hostages will need to be rescued from the airport."_

"How can we get there from where we're at?" Theron questions. "We're only three miles away and from what I know, going on foot isn't an option."

"He's right. Without a faster way of getting there, we won't be able to make it in time to save them." Saten agrees with him, concerned for the situation they're in.

_"Yeah." Yomikawa says with a hand under her chin, already in thought. "There has to be a faster way for you to get there."_

"Well, there goes some of the original plan I didn't have a lot of time putting together earlier." The boy shrugs.

"I thought you got this in the bag, oh wise one." R4 says with an annoyed beep.

"Quiet." Theron glares at him, not in the mood for his astromech's smart ass remarks.

Uiharu then brings up the building's schematics and figures out their minor situation.

"We could use the way we came in and take the service tunnels that could lead us to one of the airport's subway terminals."

"The sewers again?" Saten whines. "Can we at least find another faster way that doesn't smell so stinky to go through?"

"Then go." Yomikawa approves. "We'll be there as soon as we're able."

"We'll get it done, ma'am." Shirai nods. "Over and out."

The call ends and the teens all prepare to go.

"We'll split into two teams." Theron says. "Uiharu, Shirai, Konori. You three should stay here and provide drone support while keeping this place from falling back into Imperial hands. R4, stay and help intercept any Imperial transmissions. Make sure that they do not contact the fleet for help. And as for the rest of us, we're going to the city international airport to get the hostages out of there before we deal with any remaining forces."

"Right!" They all agree.

As Misaka and Saten head back to the way they came from, Theron turns back at the Judgement officers.

"One last thing, you might want to reactivate the building's defenses and jamming signal. Otherwise, the Imperials are gonna want to know that something's wrong here and send backup."

Theron then leaves without another word as the door shuts, leaving the four alone.

"How come we don't get the action ourselves?" Shirai groans. "Sissy can handle herself but I'm a Level 4 Teleporter. I can get it done faster too, ya know."

"I'm sure Theron has his reasons of not bringing us along." Konori assures the girl. "For now, it's best that we get the city's military drone copters back online, and secure this place till Anti-Skill arrives."

"And in the meantime, I'm gonna see if there's anything the Empire has left lying around." R4 informs them as he rolls away to the exit.

"Hang on! Theron says to stay here, and intercept and jam any Imperial transmissions that involves the fleet." Uiharu reminds the droid, much to her confusion.

"I'm already doing it at the same time, kid." He beeps annoyingly. "Don't need you to do the meatbag's job for me."

R4 has already left the control room, frustrating Shirai even more.

"I better go help him out before he gets himself into trouble." Shirai groans again as she runs out of the room.

"I guess that leaves just you and me, Konori." Uiharu sighs.

"You've read my mind, Uiharu." The 177th branch chief jokes with a reassuring smile as she sits down next to her and helps in on another computer. "I'd better set the building's defenses on only the Imperials and not on our own."

"Thanks. I've already set the jamming frequency back online, only this time I've allowed us to have communications with the others without any signal interference."

"Smart." The Level 3 Esper agrees as she continues to type. "Let's get to work on powering up those drones, and fast."

"Roger that. Beginning power up sequence... now!" The flower haired girl acknowledges, pressing on the 'enter' key that now shows the sequence bar loading as fast as it could on her screen.

**With Shirai and R4...**

"I didn't ask for your help, perverted meatbag." R4 angrily beeps as he and Shirai are back in the garage they came in from.

_"I have literally no idea what he's even saying." The Teleporter deadpans in her head._

She continues to follow the droid as the latter uses one of its appendages to pick up one of the Scout troopers' blasters and beeps to get her attention.

"I don't speak binary, R4." Shirai groans with a pinch on the bridge of her nose. "Wish Uiharu could help me understand what he's trying to tell me."

The astromech drops the weapon back on the floor and rolls over to an Imperial backpack that was lazily left besides the door to back inside. Meanwhile, Shirai picks up the dropped pistol and analyzes it.

_"Why do the bad guys sometimes get all the badass stuff?" She wonders with envy._

Shirai then aims the weapon and presses the trigger, firing a red laser bolt that made her jump and acidentally drops it. The dropped blaster then fires another bolt, causing it to bounce all over the room.

"What in the galaxy?!" R4 beeps loudly in panic as he tries to avoid the bolt from hitting him.

Thankfully, the bolt vanishes when it impacts a wall.

"Eh, heh, heh..." Shirai nervously chuckles with a sweat drop on her forehead.

R4 looks back at her and beeps angrily, opening all of his appendages up and spin his head dome around.

_"I don't think Theron would be too happy to see me destroying his astromech. I'm such an idiot sometimes." The Teleporter's face turns red in embarassment for using a weapon that doesn't have a recoil like Earth's firearms she was taught how to use, clean, and put together in her Judgement training._

R4 rolls up to her and shocks her.

"Ow!" She yelps from the unexpected attack. "What the hell!"

The astromech snickers in a series of beeps as he rolls away with the bag and starts putting the Imperial blasters and grenades inside.

"How dare you!" She angrily gives off a dark aura.

She then teleports in front of the droid and knocks him down on its frontside with a dropkick.

"Ha!" Shirai triumphs with a grin. "That'll teach you from thinking of humiliating me."

R4 then uses his little jet thrusters on both of his legs to lift himself up, giving her a deathly glare.

"If I had my old body, I'd mop the floor with you, meatbag!" He arrogantly says to the girl that can't understand him. "But the meatbag - My meatbag - wouldn't approve of such violent action that I want to do so badly."

R4 then picks up the bag with his appendage and tosses it to her, who then catches it.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Shirai questions in confusion.

He doesn't say a word as he then rolls away from the Teleporter and makes his way back to the control room to check up on Uiharu and Konori's progress on the copter drones.

"Hey!" She angrily shouts at the astromech before running after him. "Don't ignore me! We're not done yet, you stupid bucket of bolts!"

Yep. It's another day for R4, alright. Speaking of which, it's time to check on the number one himself. And boy, he's not happy.

**To be continued...**


	7. Act 1: Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**July 28, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**School District 23**

_"Tch. Just who are these guys? They're definitely not Anti-Skill from the looks of it."_

Accelerator is standing before a squadron of Stormtroopers that have noticed the Esper and surrounds him in a circle.

"This is your first and only warning: come quietly and things won't have to get messy!" One of the troopers warns.

"Seriously? That's it? You guys are pathetic at making threats." Accelerator comments with a unimpressed look on his face.

"We're not playing games, boy! You don't know who you're dealing with!" Another Stormtrooper says, angered by the boy's insults. "We have you outnumbered six to one!"

Accelerator then suddenly laughs crazily, which made the troopers beginning to be creeped out by this suddeness but kept their guard up when he finally stops.

"Aw man, that is so rich." He shakes his head in amusement before turning on his electrode and looks up at them with a sadistic grin. "But it should be YOU that doesn't know who you're dealing with!"

With a tap of his foot, he manipulates the vectors to send all of the Stormtroopers flying. A few hit the pavement while others weren't so lucky. After all, it's not Accelerator's problem if they survived or not as the only thing that matters is protecting Last Order and the Sisters (And Worst, too). After all, he no longer walks the path of the villain anymore.

"What the kriff?!" One said, getting back up.

"How did he-?!" Another shouts in confusion.

"He's a Jedi! Blast him!" A Stormtrooper commander orders his remaining men.

They open fire on him, laser bolts instantly aimed straight at the Esper. The surviving troopers believed they got him. Unfortunately for them, this only pissed him off even more as the bolts close to him are reflected back at the troopers, instantly killing them in the proccess.

"Wow! You boys in cosplay sure know how to aim!" Accelerator mocks them, clearly not fazed by their attacks at all.

"Don't get so smug, bastard!" The squad leader angrily snarls, preparing to shoot him again.

Accelerator doesn't give him the chance as he then retracts his crutch back into gauntlet form and propels himself with his powers towards him. He was already in front of the trooper, spooking him a bit. The 1st ranked Level 5 grabs hold of the enemy's blaster and backhands him with it, sending him flying into a brick wall and leaving an outline of his crippled body while being lodged at the same time.

"Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" The trooper screams in agony, realizing that this boy just somehow broken all of his bones with a single blow.

"Come on, don't tell me that you've given up so easily." The Esper taunts while still holding the blaster in his right hand.

"Not yet I haven't, Jedi scum!" A Stormtrooper from behind charges at him.

But Accelerator reacted fast enough to shoot him in the chest (without bothering to turn his head around at him), killing him instantly.

"Honestly, I didn't want to do that. But unfortunately, you gave me no other option to avoid killing you." Accelerator admits with a bored tone in his voice as he turns off his electrode and use his crutch once more. His face then turns serious. "Now then, I want answers and you're gonna tell me everything you know."

"H-Heh, you think scum like you can get me to talk?!" The crippled Stormtrooper squad leader questions. "You can forget it, Jedi!"

Accelerator sighs in annoyance. This fool is really stubborn alright.

"I don't know who this 'Jedi' you keep babbling about, but I really don't have time for this crap."

"B-But you just send my men flying everywhere with telekinesis!"

"Telekinesis?" Accelerator blinks a few times before laughing crazily again. "You think that was telekinesis I showed off a minute ago?! You bucketheads sure are stupid!"

"I-I don't-."

"-understand? No shit." The Esper finishes the trooper's sentence before rolling his eyes. "Are you familiar with the concept of vectors? No? Then I guess I'll tell you since your bucket is so dense to learn. I have the ability to control and manipulate any known vectors I can reflect back or transform to turn one's attack against them. Like those lasers you idiots keep shooting me with, for example. Now, I wonder what'll happen if I were to the flow of your blood in your veins. Would you like to see that?"

The Stormtrooper's eyes underneath his helmet widens in realization.

"N-No! Y-you wouldn't!"

"Believe me, this isn't the first time I've done this before, and it involved killing a 14-year-old girl." The boy sadistically grins.

Accelerator had to cringe hard at that. About a year ago, he was involved in the Level 6 Shift experiment that involves killing 20,000 of the Sister clones. He regrets those days when the masterminds behind the experiment manipulated him into killing them in order for the boy to reach Level 6. Thankfully, those experiments ended when a certain boy with a strange power in his right hand defeated Accelerator, thus saving the Sisters and preventing the strongest Esper in Academy City from falling into the darkness further.

"I'll talk! I'll talk, please!" The Stormtrooper begs, now beyond scared than anything in his life. "Just don't kill me!"

"Then talk. Otherwise, I'll be sure to 'accelerate' you toward death's door."

**A few minutes later...**

"Thank you for being so generous in giving me this information." Accelerator sarcastically says, not changing his expression.

"Y-You're crazy..." The Stortrooper utters before he suddenly loses conscious.

Accelerator then checks his vitals. Thankfully, he's still alive, just completely crippled.

"At least he's still alive." He mutters aloud to himself before realizing what he just said. "Tch. That fucking hero really knows how to get under my skin."

His thoughts was then interrupted by a beeping sound.

"Huh?" Accelerator wonders as he looks up for the source of the sound coming from the unconscious Stormtrooper's pouch.

The strongest Esper takes the pouch off of the trooper's waist and opens it.

"For fucks sake, going through someone's belongings is a real pain in the ass." He mumbles to himself.

He eventually found the holo communicator and tosses aside the pouch. The device then turns itself on, revealing a black armored Imperial with a different helmet that differentiate from the Stormtroopers' own.

"Sargeant, what's going on down there? You haven't reported in the last 10 minutes. Report." The Purge trooper questions, not realizing who he's talking to due to his own communicator not using holo transmissions.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but it looks like your sarge is 'napping' at the moment."

"Who is this?" The Purge trooper calmly demands.

"Does it matter who I am, commander?"

Accelerator sees the Purge trooper remaining silent when he called him by his rank.

"That's what they call you now, isn't it?" The boy grins. "Your sargeant was very appreciative for offering me information in exchange for his life. You have something that belongs to me, so I suggest you be a good little soldier and give back what's under my protection."

Unfortunately, this trooper didn't even flinch by his threats.

"Are you done talking?" He asks, catching the boy off guard. "I don't know who you are, but your threats will get you nowhere as I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play games with me!" Accelerator angrily exclaims. "I know you have the girl!"

This got the Clone's attention when the boy mentions it. If he knows about her and clone sisters, then maybe he can learn more about this city they're trying to take.

"Are you referring to the girl that comes from a line of clones?"

Accelerator was taken aback by the commander's awareness about the Sisters.

_"That's impossible. There's no way he knows about the Sisters." He says to himself in complete shock. "Who the hell is this guy?"_

"By your own silence, I'll take that as sign of knowing about these 'Sisters', if that's what you call them."

"What the hell do you want?"

"As you are aware, my men and I have taken over this city's district. And in a few hours, the city will be under Imperial control."

"Tch. Why should I let you do that?" Accelerator snorts.

"Because I'm the only one who is smart enough to avoid civilian casualties. And if you value this girl's life, then I'm willing to negotiate with you in exchange for information."

"What kind of information?" The Level 5 asks in curiousity.

"Everything that it is to know about your city's history, its people, technology, and government."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then she dies, along with the other hostages we are holding at the airport."

"RRRGGHH!" Accelerator roars in rage as he throws the communicator down, causing it to crack and the hologram to flicker. "I swear, if anything happens to the girl and the hostages, I'll kill you!"

"Such fury." He chuckles. "I can respect that. Come to the airport. Alone. Try anything heroic, and I WILL kill them."

Accelerator smashes the communicator with his crutch, anger building up in him.

"That bastard thinks his actions are justified by involving the Sister, along with innocent people that have nothing to do with this? Fine, I'll play your little negotiating game for now. Because you've just pissed off Academy City's top dog and chairman!"

The 1st ranked Esper turns back on his electrode and propels in the air before hopping greater distances towards the airport not far from his current postion. On his way there, flashes of memories flood his head, recalling on recent events that has led him to this path.

_"Before he died, Aleister entrusted me with being the new superintendent of Academy City in the hopes of continuing to preserve the balance between the Science and Magic communities. To usher in a new era and free those that have been swallowed up by the darkness. I once became a villain to protect Last Order and the Sisters, whatever the cost. But when the Hero slapped sense into me, I realize that my actions has caused a lot more suffering and pain toward others. Today, I have a new promise to uphold, and it's making sure the Sisters and the people of Academy City look forward to a bright future in their lives. And I intend to. Whatever it takes."_

**Meanwhile beneath the sewers...**

"Are we there yet?" Saten whines while trying not to lose her breakfast at the sewer's smell. Come to think of it, she hasn't had any lunch and it's already three in the afternoon.

"For the thousandth time, no!" Theron shouts in annoyance, pestered by the girl's complaints. "Why did I even think of bringing you along?"

"Would you two stop bickering?!" Misaka shouts from the front, having enough of it. "We have a mission to focus, so cut it out!"

"But how close are we, Misaka? I really want to get out of this sewer so badly."

"We're close, Saten. Just another mile from where were going." The Railgun answers. "The subway tunnel should be on the other side of this walkway."

They then come across an old circular pumping room with a few broken pipes littered all over the place. Above the large room is a walkwayis a hundred meters wide across from on side to the other. Theron then picks up a rock with his hands and drops it over the railway. It was hard to see what's at the bottom of the room, but it took the rock ten seconds to hit the floor with a clanking sound.

"That's a long drop alright." Theron comments. "I'm not even sure what's down there."

"Probably for the best, Theron." Misaka says. "Come on, guys. The sooner we get out of the sewers, the better."

"Way ahead of you." Saten agrees.

The three then begin to walk across the old rusty walkway, hoping that they can reach the other side. Suddenly, there was a creaking sound beneath their feet, forcing them to stop what they're doing.

"Uh, guys?" The Level 0 behind Theron and Misaka says. "This walkway is doesn't look safe that we're walking on."

"If it's unstable to walk on, then we should make a run to the other side we're trying to reach." Misaka suggests.

"Then we'd risk falling what's beneath us, Misaka. Hell, this entire large room looks unstable. The pipeline and walkway are covered in rust that could possibly collapse at any moment. And that's even more wonderful, because nothing could go wrong!" Theron begins ranting with some sarcasm in his voice.

How wrong he is when he said that because the walkway from the side they came from has broken off. The three were then knocked down as Saten from behind starts slipping off the walkway.

"G-Guys, I'm slipping!" She screams in panic.

She was already at the edge when Theron was able to grip her hand just in time with the girl dangling for her life.

"Don't look down!" He warns her. "Focus your eyes on me!"

"I-I'm not! Just don't let go!" She says back, clearly afraid of falling to her death but at the same time her arm starts hurting from the hanging.

His grip is already failing as she can't hold onto her much longer, her fingers slipping out of one of his gloved hands. The girl then gasps with her blue eyes widening at this and screams in horror as she starts falling towards the dark bottom.

"Saten!" Theron and Misaka shout, afraid for their friend's life meeting its end.

Theron then jumps off the walkway and uses the Force to help him land safely at the bottom first and reach out with his hands to catch Saten before she falls to her death. Saten closes her eyes in fear, waiting to meet her end. But nothing happened. She slowly opens her eyes and is in shock that she is somehow floating in the air before the girl stops floating and unexpectedly lands on top of Theron, both of them rolling to a stop. Their faces were so close that they blushed, embarasssed at how unexpected this was. What made it more awkward between the two was that her soft hands were placed on his hoodie covered chest.

"Y-you saved me..." Saten shyly says, her face red. "T-thank you. I-I don't know what would've happened if you didn't in time."

"I-it's nothing! B-But I didn't even do it." Theron explains with honesty while his face is red, finding it awkward to talking to a girl that way. "You were floating above me before I could even catch you, and then you stopped and landed on top of me."

"I was floating?" She curiously asks.

"Um, yeah." He slowly nods in confirmation. "If you don't mind me asking, where did you learn to do that?"

That was a good question for her. To be honest, she's not entirely sure herself as everything was happening so fast and that she almost died from falling from a greater height above.

"I-I don't know..." The girl says with full honesty. "One thing I was screaming as I kept falling and falling with death's door waiting for me. The next, was me opening my eyes to see that I'm a few feet off the ground I almost fell flat upon."

This raised even more questions to the shocked Jedi apprentice.

_"Saten must've unknowingly used the Force to stop herself from falling to her death momentarily before she landed on top of me." Theron theorizes in his head. "If she's Force sensitive, then her fear of falling to death must've made her unconsciously used a fraction of the Dark Side to save herself. I sense a strong connection that she has with the Force itself, and I wasn't expecting her to be almost strong as I am."_

"Ahem!"

Theron snaps out of his thoughts when he and Saten look up to see none other than Misaka standing before them with her arms crossed.

"Am I interrupting anything?" The Railgun asks with a teasing smirk on her face.

The two look at each other before realizing again how close their faces are and blush once more. Saten then gets off of him and stands up, not making eye contact with him at the moment with her open sandal covered feet close together, a sign that she's shy around him.

"W-We're just making sure that we didn't suffer any major injuries, that's all." Theron explains.

"Uh huh." Misaka says, unconvinced due to the interaction she saw between the two. "If you two are done, then we should get moving again."

"R-Right." Both Saten and Theron nod, doing their best to conceal their blush from her.

"Wait, how are you even down here?" Theron asks, realizing that Misaka has somehow met up with him and Saten from the walkway above.

"I used my powers." She simply shrugs. "Though the walls and pipline don't entirely magnetize with them."

"Seriously? Now the three of us are stuck down here because I didn't bring a grappling hook along."

"And you didn't bother remembering to pack one?!" Misaka angrily exclaims, a few electric sparks starting to show.

"Hey! I wasn't expecting for us to be in this situation." Theron argues.

"Ugh! I guess we'll have to call Uiharu for some help." Misaka groans as she takes out her Gekota phone to call Uiharu.

However, she's not getting any immediate response from her.

"Shit." She curses. "I'm not getting any response."

"This place might be too old for a proper cell reception down here." The Jedi deduces.

"So how are we going out of this huge pit?" Saten asks.

"I'll think of something." He answers with his hand under his chin.

As he does that, Saten sits on top of a rock and sighs before looking around.

"It's too quiet. Why do I get the feeling that we migh run into trouble down here again?" Saten quietly mutters to herself, nervous that something's not right.

"Yeah." Misaka agrees with her. "I don't think we should stay here for too long."

Suddenly, they hear something in the dark corner of the large room.

"What was that?" The Railgun questions aloud.

"I don't know." Theron answers, unsure himself when his thoughts were once again interrupted as he senses a disturbance. "But I've got a bad feeling about this."

Theron and Misaka get in a stance while Saten gets off the rock and stands behind them. A few seconds later, nothing happens.

"Huh, I guess my mind was pl-."

He never got to finish that sentence when some large object suddenly sent him flying back towards a wall and falls unconscious by the head trauma after landing back on the metal floor.

"Theron!" Saten shouts as runs to him and crouches to check for a pulse, which to her surprise is stable. "*sighs* He's still alive. Just knocked out."

"Saten, get back!" Misaka orders as she gets in a fighting stance with a serious look on her face.

The two conscious girls see this mysterious attacker come out of the shadows and reveals itself. A walker droid with four razor titnium legs, and a large green optic in the center of its large head with two mounted pincher-like laser cutters.

It seems that the girls are on their own with Theron still knocked out from the attack. Hopefully, they won't need to since Misaka is the third ranked Level 5 Esper in Academy City.

The Railgun versus the Terror Walker! Only one will prevail.

**To be continued...**


	8. Act 1: Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**July 28, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**Academy City Sewers**

**Somewhere beneath School District 23**

The Terror Walker mechanically growls as it observes Misaka through its green optic. Misaka, meanwhile, keeps her guard up.

_"I'm not picking up any EM waves from this thing." Misaka observes, confused about not sensing any power source from the large droid. "It can't be Capacity Down, so the question is, what else is this huge droid being powered by?"_

Her thoughts were interrupted when the walker roars and its optic turns yellow before firing a huge single yellow laser beam, in which the girl was able to barely dodge to the side in time.

"Crap, that was too close!" She exclaims in shock. "I barely had time to dodge that attack!"

Not wasting any time, the Railgun launches a powerful electric attack at the walker droid, only for the said droid to activate its lightning shield that absorbed her attack.

"A lightning shield, huh? Guess this might take awhile."

The Terror Walker suddenly launches a single anti-tank missile at her and Misaka easily jumps over it. However, the missile turns around and flies back at her, hoping to land a direct hit on her.

"Seriously?! A guided missile?! Come on!" She groans in annoyance before making a run for it.

The Level 5 electromaster was doing all she can to avoid the missile's lock on her by vaulting over broken pipes but to no avail. Then, an idea formed in her head.

_"That barrier the walker has up!" She formulates a plan while keeping her distance from the missile. "I might be able to get past the shield due to my immunity. And if I can get the missile to touch the shield it'll short circuit enough to detonate and stun the droid momentarily. It'll also buy me time to finish it off. I just hope this works."_

Using her powers, Misaka runs up and magnetizes to the wall. With the missile filling the gap on the distance between itself and the girl, getting closer within each second, Misaka takes a deep breath and performs a backflip off the wall and turns around to face the walker droid in midair.

She then passes through the shield and lands on top of the large droid's head (that's also its body) before looking up to see the missile coming towards her position. And with timed precision, Misaka jumps off of the walker just before the missile made contact with the lightning shield. Just as she predicted, the missile short-circuited and exploded that momentarily stunned the droid.

_"Now's my chance!" She says to herself._

Now seeing an opening, the Level 5 electromaster takes out an arcade token from her skirt pockets and flips it in the air before flicking her right thumb, launching an orange colored projectile at the Terror Walker, resulting another explosion and creating a cloud of dust in the process. This is her ultimate technique, hence why she was given the name Railgun in the first place.

"Woohoo!" Saten cheers from the sidelines, witnessing the whole fight from a distance while watching over Theron's unconscious body. "Way to go, Misaka!"

Misaka looks back at her friend and smiles confidentially, believing she has already easily destroyed the droid. She was wrong, however, as a large yellow laser blast sent her sliding back next to her friends, now covered in minor burn marks that aren't permanent along with a few bruises for hitting the floor hard.

"Misaka!" Saten shouts in panic, concerned for her friend.

"Owww..." The Railgun groans in pain and slowly gets up.

When the dust cleared, it is revealed that the Terror Walker has tanked her Railgun. However, it received a few dents and is clearly pissed that Misaka has successfully made minor damage to the droid's armor. The droid roars in response to her minor succession.

"N-No way!" Misaka exclaims in horror. "It just tanked my most powerful move like it was nothing!"

The droid crawls toward them and decides that it's done playing games. It powers up its laser cutter to full power.

"I think we're screwed." She admits in defeat, seeing no way out of this.

Suddenly, the Terror Walker begins levitating off the ground and was thrown back towards the opposite wall, knocking the large droid down as well. The girls turn around to see that Theron has finally woken up, and he's pissed off. What's more is that he just sent that walker flying with telekinesis. But they realize he's not an Esper, so how does he have powers, they wonder?

"THAT... was a mistake." He snarls angrily before jumping forward to the droid's position.

The droid recovers quickly and roars angrily. But before it can counter attack, Theron uses the Force to pin the droid walker to the metal floor, restraining it from ever moving. Then with both hands, the Jedi uses the Force to bring down large chunks of rock and huge pipes on top of the Terror Walker. The droid roars again but was silenced when the falling debris lands on top of it, deeply burying the walker in the rubble and therefore ending his 20 second fight.

"Next time, finish me off properly before you begin attacking someone else." He says to the rubble.

"Theron!" Saten exclaims as she and Misaka ran up to him. "You're awake!"

"Yeah, along with a big ass headache." He holds his head in slight pain.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Don't worry about me, Saten. I've been through worst situations like this before." He casually waves her concerns off.

"Speaking of worst situations, just what the hell was that thing?" Misaka asks, changing the topic completely. "Some kind of Imperial droid?"

"Likely." He answers while looking at the huge rubble the Terror Walker is currently buried in. "Must be a prototype of sorts. But I've never seen one like that one before. _(Thoughts) And for some reason, I can sense the Force in it. That shouldn't be possible unless someone has a really strong connection to power droids with it. And I doubt Vader and the Emperor are THAT powerful to pull it off. If that wasn't enough, I sensed on how sentient it was when the droid was pissed that Misaka barely dented it. Just what the hell is going on here?"_

"Hold on, you don't know what it is that you've been telling us about the Empire?" Saten question with a surprised look.

"I haven't run into any Imperials in years. How should I know that they would build something I haven't faced before?"

"You can worry about that later, Theron." Misaka interrupts. "What's more important right now is that we need to get out of here and save the hostages."

"But how? We can't even climb that. Not to mention, we don't have grappling hooks." The Level 0 points out the obvious things.

"Sorry, Misaka." As he reaches out with the Force at her.

"What are you- Whoaaaaa!!!" Misaka exclaims as she is launched in the air and lands back on the walkway.

"Ow! What the hell! Wait, I'm already back up here!"

"Hang on tight." He says to Saten as he scoops her up and carries her in bridal position.

"W-What are you doing?!" She blushes crazily. "Waaahhh!!!"

The Jedi Force jumps 25 feet off the ground and lands on the walkway next to an angry Misaka.

"A little warning would be nice, thank you!"

"You're welcome." Theron sarcastically rolls his eyes ay her.

"Hey, umm... can you put me down?" Saten shyly asks as she's still in his arms.

"O-oh! My bad, Saten!" He says before gently putting her down.

She stands on her feet again and shifts them close to each other while the girl blushed and shyly looks away from him.

"Y-you didn't have to do that. I could've climbed on your back instead." She says, barely making eye contact for a moment as the blush goes away from her face.

"Sorry about that." He apologizes with a rub behind his head. "I shouldn't have done that to you."

"No, you don't have to apologize!" She waves her hands at him in disapproval. "Thanks for the lift, by the way."

"No problem. Now let's get moving and pick up the pace. Only a matter of time before the Empire's hand is forced."

"Right!" The girls exclaim in unison.

As they're running down towards the exit that leads to the airport subway tunnel, there's one other question Misaka wanted to ask Theron.

"Hey, I forgot to ask. Just what kind of power source that droid has? I couldn't even sense the EM waves and electrons off of it for some reason."

"Really? Huh, weird." He answers, already knowing what it is but kept it a secret for now as they have a mission to complete.

"But on the other hand, you easily took down that walker droid like it was nothing. I had no idea you have telekinesis."

"Like I said earlier, I'm not an Esper like you guys. Not to mention, i was using a small fraction of my power when you saw me buried it in that rubble. Droids are so easy to trash."

"Eh?!" They said in complete surprise. That had to be the most ridiculous thing they have heard from him. No way he can do that with ease!

Unbeknownst to the trio, however, the pile of rubble begins to shake off.

**Academy City International** **Airport**

**School District 23**

It was almost 4 in the afternoon as Imperial forces patrol the interior of the airport in separate areas. However, the main focus is the captured Sister clone as she is being escorted by two Stormtroopers. When they've reached one of offices, the door automatically opens for them as they enter the room. Inside, they are met with PT-3571 who is looking through a window that shows a large group of hostages gathered together.

"Sir." One of them says. "We've brought the prisoner as you ordered."

"Thank you, troopers." The Purge trooper says while focusing his gaze at the hostages a floor below him. "You're dismissed."

The two troopers then leave the handcuffed Sister standing before him. She looks around and sees two more Purge troopers posted on the sides of the office. From her best guess, the one with the red shoulder pauldron is the commanding officer. As for the other two, they don't have the drapes and pauldrons around their waist and on their shoulder, and wore similar red visor, black helmets different from the one that the commander is currently wearing.

"You're welcome to remove those cuffs with your special ability. However, try anything that involves escaping, and my men won't hesitate to shoot you on sight."

The girl looks up in shock. How'd he know about her ability to use electricity?

Turning around, PT-3571 looks at her with his arms behind his back.

"Misaka 11626, was it? Grown from a vat like your Sisters before and after you. Impressive that your city's advanced cloning technology created you. However, it still pales in comparison to the Clone army back in the days of the Old Republic."

11626 was confused. What is this Old Republic he's referring to? And what Clone army? Project Radio Noise was shut down due to she and her Sisters are not the same level as their Big Sister, making them unneeded for the military. And what remained of them are the only clones in existence, including the only member of the Third Season line.

"W-what are you going to do with me?" She asks.

"It's simple." He begins explaining as he turns back towards the window. "I have no intention of killing you along with the hostages. However, I am willing to negotiate with your friend that'll be here soon, and he and I will discuss about you and them. In exchange, I want information regarding this city as well as your entire planet and star system."

"Go to hell." She grits her teeth, rage building up in her grey eyes. "You think he'll just give up important city secrets to you and your so called Empire? He's not the kind of person to bargain with, and he'll kill you and your invasion force."

"I think you're underestimating our Imperial might, 11626. The Galactic Empire has been around in the Milky Way galaxy for almost three centuries. Ever since we accidentally ended up in your universe, we were once a young galactic power, still building our Empire's strength. But back in those early days, the leaders of High Command were too arrogant and power hungry to improve our military strength."

"What are you talking about?" 11626 questions in confusion.

Before PT-3571 could continue his story, he is interrupted when a Stormtrooper sargeant enters the room.

"Sir. We've lost the signal to the prototype walker droid High Command authorized." Reports the trooper.

"And?"

"We believe that something has happened to it."

PT-3571 sighs, turning his head.

"Tell the men to be on high alert but hold your fire. I want them alive for questioning. Use stun if you have to, should they put up a fight."

"Yes sir." He complies to the commander before leaving the room.

After the sarge left the office, PT-3571 turns back towards Misaka 11626.

"It seems your friend has decided to bring along a few more guests." He comments before signalling his Purge troopers in the room. "Take her downstairs, and put her with the others. I wish to be alone while talking to our guest when he arrives."

They obey without a word and escort the Sister out of the office. Just as they left his wrist comlink beeps and he answers.

"Yes?"

"Sir, he's here."

"Good. Send him up."

"But sir, shouldn't we have an escort for him?"

"It's fine, trooper. He's already killed a squadron that was on patrol. Best not we provoke whoever he is. I'm sure that it won't hurt."

"As you wish, sir." The trooper answers before ending the call.

The Purge trooper commander looks back at the window once more, prepared for the arrival of Academy City's strongest Esper.

**To be continued...**


	9. Act 1: Chapter 8

**Act 1: Chapter 8**

**July 28**, **2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**School District 23**

**Academy City International Airport**

"Guess this is it." Accelerator sighs, finally reaching the office door.

He could've used his ability to reach his destination while inside the airport, but decided against it due to the fact that he would end up wasting battery consumption for his electrode. During his way upstairs, he notices that the Stormtroopers didn't bother attacking him or escort him to their commanding officer. Thanks to having good hearing, he learns that they're to stand down and not provoke him in any way that could get themselves killed.

_"At least they have the damn balls to stay out of my way. I've already used up fifty percent of my electrode's battery, and I'm conserving it when I'm done here with the Sister and the hostages safe."_The door automatically opens and enters the room while in his 'crutch' mode. He notices that the Purge trooper is looking out the window.

_"So that's their commanding officer in charge of this whole invasion. Huh, his armor looks different from the ones they're wearing." He observes his target._ The commander turns around and slightly flinches in surprise that the one he's negotiating with is a teenage boy no older than 17. He then regains his composure and speaks first.

"I wasn't expecting the man I'm supposed to be negotiating with is a boy." PT-3571 says.

"Tch. Well, get used to it because I'm pissed off that you're little invasion just interrupted my nap an hour ago." Accelerator retorts rudely.

"You killed a squadron of my men." He deadpans.

"I killed them in self defense when they opened fire on me." He explains with a half-truth since he attacked first. " Well, except for the squadron leader, and HE'S not gonna be walking anywhere anytime soon."

3571 grits his teeth underneath his helmet but calms down immediately.

"I should kill you for that."

"I like to see you try. Though, I'm sure as hell you'll fail like those guys in white have." The first ranked Esper arrogantly taunts. "But I have priorities in saving right now, starting with the girl and hostages you're holding."

"We'll get to that. However, I want to ask for information about your planet and your city's technology."

"We agreed in discussing the release of them first."

"I never said that."

"Bastard! If you so much have already killed them before I got here, I'll kill you for that!"

"They're still alive. And if you don't want my hand forced, then you'll do what I say." The commander says, beginning to lose his patience.

Accelerator pauses for a moment. He could kill him here and now, and be done with this. But if he does, then there's a chance that they will kill the Sister and the hostages upon the discovery of their dead superior.

Left with no other choice, he gives in to 3571's demand.

"Tch. Fine. What is it you want to know?"

**Meanwhile outside...**

It took some time, but the trio has finally made it to the airport grounds. Only thing is, is that they're now hiding behind cover in an airport hangar being occupied by a few AT-STs and AT-ATs.

"That's alot of walkers." Saten gulps nervously.

"They're one of the Empire's symbols of fear, after all." Theron agrees with her.

"Enough to take Academy City if we don't stop them right now." Misaka says. "I'm not sure how they managed to sneak all of those vehicles into the city, as well as those Stormtroopers."

"Beats me." Theron shrugs. "Any ideas of how to cripple their superior fire power?"

"From what you and Uiharu have told us about them, the smaller walkers we can handle, but the larger ones are gonna be tricky to deal with."

"The AT-ATs have tough armor than the AT-STs and both have immunity to blasters. However, the former lacks mobility in exchange for superior weaponry and tanks normal rockets unlike the latter of walkers in exchange for mobility." He explains.

"What if we were to plant explosives inside the AT-ATs?" Saten suggests. "If they have strong armor, then certainly the interiors aren't."

"Smart thinking, Saten!" Misaka compliments before looking around. "It's a miracle no one's guarding the inside of a large hangar. How stupid do you think the Empire is?"

"Really stupid." He answers. " It's not the troops's fault but more towards their leaders sometimes. The reason why is because they're more politician than military tactician. It's their ego and Imperial arrogance that makes them not the brightest bulb, and see their own forces expendable than rely on teamwork."

"Seriously?!" Misaka questions, angry that the Imperial troops are seen as a means to an end toward their leaders. "That's just-! Ugh! I can't believe that their superiors care only about power, glory, and recognition."

"Yeah, well, it's why the Empire's not gonna last long if this keeps up." He sighs.

"How long do you think that the people of your Galaxy might rebel against them?" Saten asks curiously, disgusted by it too. " These space Nazis just keeps stealing what's isn't theirs."

"By my prediction, in about less than a decade. Maybe even lesser than that." Theron makes an educated guess.

Oh how right he is after all. Well, more like around 16 years given Theron's current age.

"We should contact Uiharu and the others. They're probably worried about us by now." The Level 0 girl suggests.

"Good thinking. What's her taking so long in getting the drones back online?" He agrees as he turns on his communicator.

"Uiharu, it's us."

_"Thank goodness you're still alive!" Uiharu says with relief. " I lost contact with you guys after you entered the sewers!"_"We're okay Uiharu." Saten calms her friend. "Let's just say we were occupied at the moment."

_"What do you mean?"_

"It's a long story but I'll tell you when this whole invasion is over."

"By the way, what's the status on those aerial defense drones?" Misaka changes the topic, getting to the matter at hand.

_"I've just finished bringing them back online. They should be at the airport now."_"Do you know where the hostages are being kept at?"

_"Give me a sec to check on one of the drone's surveillance cams." She says as the trio hear typing on a keyboard. "I've got it! They're being held at a security checkpoint. But it looks like there's about 10 hostiles and twenty civilians. Not to mention, there are about 50 or more troops outside and are preparing to move into the city."_"Well that's not good." Misaka sarcastically comments."Does the airport have an advanced security lockdown?" Theron asks.

_"Tight enough to stop Esper abilities. Why?"_

"We're close to the main building and are in a hangar filled with hostile vehicles and heavy artillery. We're going to destroy their fire support and advance to the where the hostages are being held at. Once were inside, I need you to jam their communications and lock us inside the building."

"Wait, what?!" The three shouted.

"You're out of your mind!"

"It'll buy us some time." He explains. "Plus, we'll need to take their new commanding officer alive about what the Empire is doing here in the first place."

"But how are we going to get all of the hostages out? Also, there are hostages being held outside on the airfield and other hangars. We can't just leave them behind."

"Don't worry Misaka. I've programmed the drones to take out the invaders holding the other hostages that are outside the main building. Just say the word, and I can initiate Operation: Invading Halt!"

The trio sweat dropped at Uiharu's dramatic moment.

Theron shakes his head.

"Sorry, but I don't think this is the time to be naming plans." Saten chuckles awkwardly.

"Good grief." Misaka sighs in amusement.

_"You're no fun, guys." The level 1 pouts._

"Talk to you later, Uiharu." Theron rolls his eyes before ending the call. "Alright, let's get to work."

They immediately begin planting detonation charges Theron brought with him and starts planting them inside the AT-ATs and AT-STs. After planting the last charge they then make a runnto the entrance hallway that'll take them to the one of the large security checkpoints that the hostages are being held at.

"Shouldn't we worry about collateral damage after we detonate the charges?" Theron nervously asks, not wanting to pay for the expensive property they're going to blow up.

"Don't worry about it, Theron." Saten assures him. "The city has really deep pockets, so we don't have to worry about paying for damaged property while we students in Academy City focus on our school lives."

He sighs in relief, wiping a bit of sweat off of his forehead. No way he's paying the damages of a technologically advanced city.

Reaching down the hallway, they hid behind a corner and check for any Stormtroopers patrolling. None so far and they continue deeper inside the main building.

**Back Upstairs...**

"Very interesting. I know that Earth isn't advanced enough for space traveling, but I wasn't expecting this city to produce super powered children." 3571 admits, intrigued by the Espers.

"Yes, everyone's awed about Academy City." Accelerator rolls his eyes at the same old reactions newcomers have with Academy City.

Accelerator explained the basics of Espers with different abilities to the commander. However, he withheld important information about the Power Curriculum Program, Parameter list, the level rankings, himself as the strongest Esper and secret chairman of the governing board, and the other Level 5s, including the existence of magic and a certain spiky haired boy's unknown power as the Purge trooper doesn't need to know. After all, he and his small forces are outsiders to both the city and the entire planet.

"Thank you for this information, boy. In honor of our deal, the hostages and the girl are free to go."

"If you're not lying, then I want proof of it not simply words coming from the mouth of an outsider."

"As you wish."

After calling then up, the door opens as the Sister is being escorted in by two Purge troopers. Her eyes widen when she recognizes him.

_"Good. She's safe. A little bruised, but safe." _Accrlerator mentally sighs with relief. "And the hostages?"

"Let's not get too greedy here." 3571 says. "The hostages will be set free once I give the order to my men."

Suddenly, the power goes out and the airport has initiated lockdown to all windows and exits. The lights are now red as it has switched to emergency power and the alarms echoing.

_"A lockdown?" The strongest Esper curiously wonders to himself._"Sargeant, what's going on down there?"

_"Sir, the hangar that stores our walkers and most of our weaponry have been been destroyed!" The sargeant on the comms report._

"What?! Then why the hell have you activate the building's lockdown protocol?"

_"Sir, it wasn't us! We believe the same intruders have infiltrated inside and could be anywhere."_

"What the hell are you standing around for?! Hunt them down immediately!"

_"Alive?"_

"No. There's been a change of plan." He says before informing other troopers inside. "Secure the hostages, and fan out for possible Intruders! Use of lethal force has been authorized!"

"Sir, what about these two?" One of the Purge troopers in the room asks.

"Kill them. Our diplomatic strategy has now gone to hell. Thanks to this boy's allies " He orders without remorse.

The Purge troopers nod and aim their E-22s at the two teens.

"Seriously? You think I'm capable of secretly bringing in allies behind your back? You really are stupid than I thought." Accelerator shakes his head with a grin.

He quickly then turns on his electrode as soon as the Sister stands back from him. The three Purge troopers were immediately sent flying to a wall or a window shutter, knocking them down momentarily.

"Come on!" He orders the Sister to follow after removing the cuffs off her.

The two then make a run for it.

"Thank you." Misaka 11626 praises as they make their escape down a few hallways and a stairwell.

"What the hell were you thinking of going alone without informing the other Sisters?" He lectures. "You almost got yourself killed."

Her face becomes shameful at this.

"Doesn't matter anymore. What's important is that your in one piece. Next time, I might not be to save your sorry ass from getting killed."

"But Accelerator, that armored commander has some information about the Misaka Network and the Sisters!"

"I know."

"No, I mean he literally has some of it on a data encrypter."

"Huh?"

"He's planning to leave the planet with it and deliver it to his superior. He still doesn't know about your true identity but it'll be a matter of time before he finds out about your ability and takes advantage of your weakness."

"Damn it!" He curses. "Hey, I need you to head back to School District 7. I can handle it from here."

"But it's my fault that he's got whatever data he has from my head! Let me make it right!"

"You've done enough already, so scram!" He yells angrily, causing her to flinch as they stopped running. "I'm not gonna let some dirty bastard take advantage of me or anyone else again. And that's a promise."

"What about the hostages? Surely they need to be rescued."

"It's no longer my concern anymore. I'm pretty sure that whoever's infiltrated inside the airport, Anti-Skill or otherwise, they can get by without my help."

11626 nods hesitantly.

"Be careful. Last Order wouldn't want you to get yourself killed."

And like that, she runs off to find an exit.

"Tch." He says before turning off his electrode and converting his crutch into a gauntlet to help him walk normally without relying on the electrode and the Misaka Network before running back to the office where he knocked the commander down to escape from being executed along with the Sister.

But by the time he returned there, the three Purge troopers are already gone.

"Shit! They must've ran off after the Sister and I escaped our own execution." He curses as he looks around. "Looks like I'm gonna have to track them down, and quickly before they get off of Earth with the copied data."

**Meanwhile...**

"Sir, I can't get a hold of the fleet. Our communications must've been intercepted and jammed." One of the Purge troopers reports as they are taking an elevator down to another floor.

3571 grits his teeth in anger.

"It seems that boy's friends must've taken out the troops I left behind to secure. Good thing my communicator runs a secondary channel in case something like this happens."

He then contacts the Admiral of the fleet.

_"Commander! We've been trying to reach you when we discovered that our transmissions didn't go through and-!"_

"Spare me the details, Admiral. I already know what's going on." He quickly interrupts. "The whole plan's gone to hell."

_"Sir, I don't understand. The plan's gone smoothly since you last contacted me. How could this have happened?"_

"Imperial High Command has overlooked something crucial the first time we attempted to conquer this planet years ago again. And our forces' walkers and artillery have been destroyed by a hostile strike team. Requesting for immediate evac."

_"Affirmative, commander. I'll dispatch one of our two Imperial I-class Star Destroyers to your position, and provide orbital cover fire."_

"Do it. PT-3571 out." He ends transmission before looking at his two squadmates. "Evacuation has been authorized. Get all our forces to the shuttles. A Star Destroyer is on its way to pick us up."

"And the hostages?"

"Kill them all."

The elevator door opens and the trio make a run to where a group hostages are being held at inside the Airport.

**To be continued...**


	10. Act 1: Chapter 9

**Act 1: Chapter 9**

**Meanwhile...**

Stormtroopers and Scout troopers run down the airport hallways as the Imperial alarm blares aloud for them to hear. Unbeknownst to them, however, our heroes are hiding behind a few support pillars as they pass by without stopping.

"They've taken the bait." Saten whispers while looking out from her hiding spot.

"I can't believe that worked, Theron." Misaka agrees. "Seems that all of those troops are heading to where we have already trashed their vehicles."

"Not all of them." Theron reminds her. "We'll most likely run into a few that are staying behind to hold the hostages."

"Then let's hurry." She nods seriously.

They quietly sneak past the running Imperials going in the opposite direction, and made to a large shutter door that leads inside the airport's security checkpoint. Theron attempts to lift the door up but it remains to be shut tight.

"Great, it's locked." He mutters.

"Maybe because you asked Uiharu to lock us in here with the enemy?" Saten rhetorically asks with a deadpan.

"You have a better idea, then?" He retorts.

"No, no. You're the one that came up with the plan. I'm good." She dedefends her obvious point.

"Then shut it, and let me figure something out that'll help us get inside."

"For crying out loud." Misaka pushes the Jedi aside in annoyance and concentrates on her calculations to open the door with her powers.

She sends electricity to the door's power box and successfully opens the way inside.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you can also do that than just electrocute people." He scratches his cheek with his index finger.

"Your welcome, by the way." Misaka rolls her eyes as she enters inside.

Theron and Saten look at each other, and the latter just sheepishly chuckles with a shrug before both of them follow her from behind.

After getting inside, they hid behind cover once more, and sees a group of hostages together on the floor and are guarded by 10 Stormtroopers.

"There they are!" Misaka whispers. "We have to save them!"

"That's the plan." Theron nods.

"But how are we going to do that without the Stormtroopers endangering the hostages?" Saten points out her only concern.

"Well, Misaka has her powers and I have mine. I think I have a plan, but-."

He was then interrupted when they see one of the Stormtroopers places his index and middle finger on the side of his helmet.

"TK-2230 reporting. Orders?" He says before nodding at a response on the other end. "Yes, sir. Understood, sir."

"Sir?" Another Stormtrooper asks his Sargeant.

"Line up the hostages against that wall. We have our orders."

"Understood, sir." He obeys, realizing what they're about to do without further question.

The hostages that are mostly students line up at a wall, confused to what's going on.

"Set your blasters to kill and open fire on my mark." TK-2230 commands.

The hostages begin panicking in fear as 5 Imperial troops aim their E-11s at them.

"Make ready? Fire!" He shouts.

The red blaster bolts are fired. However, they're suddenly stopped halfway in midair, freezing in place. That even includes half of the troops present.

"What the?!" A Stormtrooper exclaims in confusion.

The remaining non frozen troops turned around and see that it was Theron with his hand outstretched at the frozen troops and blaster bolts.

Before the non frozen troopers could react, Misaka jumps out of their hiding spot and send electrical sparks at them, knocking them unconscious. The hostages look on in awe realizing who it is.

"It's the Railgun! One of the hostages exclaims with excitement.

"She's here to save us!" Another shouts out.

"Get out of the way!" Theron shouts seriously at them.

The hostages immediately move out of the frozen laser bolts' line of fire and the Jedi Force pushes the frozen troops into the laser blasts, killing them in the process as their corpses slam into the said wall.

"Thank you so much, Misaka!" The freed hostage praises.

"Yeah! You saved our skins from these guys in white!" Another praises as well.

"It's no big deal, really!" Misaka awkwardly chuckles for being praised alot.

"Didn't know you're a celebrity, Misaka." Theron raises his eyebrow in curiosity while Saten comes out of hiding and stands next to her friends.

"Are you kidding?!" A freed hostage butts in with excitement. "She's the third ranked Level 5 Esper, and the strongest female and electromaster in Academy City: Railgun!"

"Railgun?"

"I'll explain later." The electromaster says to him before changing the subject. "Is everyone alright?"

They all nod, relieved that they're safe with her and her friends.

"Good. My friends and I are getting you to safety." Misaka assures them.

"But wait! Men in black armor have already taken one of us upstairs!"

"Do you know what she looks like?" Theron asks her.

"She's dirty blond and I think she wears a Tokiwadai uniform like Misaka's wearing."

"Great. Seems one of your fellow schoolmates is still being held hostage." Theron facepalms.

"We'll find her, Theron. I've done this sort of thing before. Shouldn't be a problem."

"She could be anywhere, Misaka. We might not be able to reach her in time."

"Then we don't give up. We'll search all day if we have to."

Theron sighs in defeat, seeing her point.

"Alright, you've got a point there."

Suddenly, the door on the other side of the security checkpoint opens up and three Purge troopers appear with weapons trained on them.

"Everyone, get back!" Theron orders his friends and the hostages that are behind him.

He takes out his blaster pistol and opens fire on them. However, one of them shot his pistol out of his hand, dropping on the floor.

"Surrender, boy." PT-3571 he orders. "We have you outgunned."

Theron notices his pistol on the ground and tries to pick it up but a laser bolt hits the floor by his foot at a mere inch.

"Dont even think about it!" Another Purge trooper warns without hesitation.

Realizing that he's at a stalemate, Theron grits his teeth in frustration at what hes about to do that puts him and R4 at risk once again in three years.

"No. It's you who are outmatched." He says to them.

The Jedi takes out his lightsaber and ignites his sapphire blade getting in his Form IV Ataru stance. This caught the Purge troopers attention as well as Misaka's and Saten's, along with the freed hostages.

"A Jedi?" 3571 utters in shock.

"Theron?" Saten says with the same confusion and shock as he wields a sapphire plasma blade with a white core inside.

"Saten, Misaka. Get the hostages to to safety. Don't come back for me. I can handle them."

"But-!" Misaka begins to argue but was cut off by him.

"That's an order! The hostage's lives are more important than mine right now! So go!"

The two girls look at each other and nod as they and the hostages flee from the scene, leaving the Jedi and the Purge troopers alone.

"I thought that we eliminated all of your treasonous kind, Jedi." 3571 says. " Truth is, this is the first time we've seen one after three centuries."

"Centuries? What are you talking about?" Theron questions. "I haven't fought you Imperials in three years!"

"Three years?" 3571 questions in confusion. _"What is he on about?"_

"Where's the girl you have held hostage?"

"Gone. Escaped. But it matters not. Killing you would be an easy task. Prepare and meet your end, traitor!"

3571 takes out a lightsaber resistant electrostaff that crackles purple electricity on its pointed ends while his two fellow Purge troopers take out their own electro weapons. One wields a type of axe and another with dual electro blades, both weapons with the same purple lightning on the blades/pointed ends.

_"Three to one. I'll take those odds." Theron thinks._

The one wielding the electro blades attacks him who easily blocks it and slices his head completely off before lightly kicking the rest of the dead body down on the floor. The one with the electroripper staff uses his brute strength to stagger his defenses but he evades with a sidestep and slashes part of his armor. The black clad trooper parries and hits the Jedi in the face with the grip handle of his bladed staff. He prepares to deal the final blow but Theron quickly recovers and parries it. The trooper tries to swipe his feet off the ground but the boy was fast enough to backflip over the attack and rolls to side. Finall he twists the guy's arm and holds it up high before finishing him off by slashing through his torso, killing him. Now, both corpses lie dead and the last one remains.

"That's all you could muster, Imperial?" Theron taunts.

3571 said nothing and twirls his electro staff. Theron Force pulls him but the commander plants his weapon into the floor and is being dragged towards him. He then let go and lunge forward for an attack, in which the Jedi anticipated this and sidesteps before he was knocked down. 3571 stands back up and parries the boy's lightsaber blade and breaks his attack.

"Back!" He yells at the boy and prepares a hard swing at the boy. "Got you!"

Theron counter-parries it with ease and slashes part of his armor. Theron temporarily switches to Form V Dejem So and raises his weapon above his head and slams his sapphire blade down on him who blocks it just in time and used his human strength to push him back for an opening.

"I will make you hurt!" He snarls as he prepares to strike him.

However, Theron block it and goes onto the offensive. Switching back to Form IV, he swings his saber at him, who is parrying each blow, found an opening and breaks his defense completely before performing a kick in the chest and slices it along with his right arm below the elbow, sending him flying towards the window that's still on lockdown and hits the floor hard from that finishing move. Luckily, that wasn't enough to kill the commander but was still injured by that attack of his.

The commander groans in pain as he gets up and holds onto where his arm has been dismembered with one hand. He then notices that one of his pouches has been sliced open and notices a small data drive on the floor that's a few meters away from him. The injured Purge trooper runs to it but suddenly, it was blown away from him by what looks like a whirlwind. Looking in the direction the small drive is going towards, 3571 looks in shock that it's none other than Accelerator, who is now holding the intel regarding the Misaka clones.

"Looking for this?" Accelerator taunts with a psychopathic grin.

The Vector manipulator then drops it on the ground and crushes it with his foot. Thankfully, should the data be destroyed, the Sisters would still have copies of it.

"Damn you..." The Purge trooper curses angrily.

Theron then points his lightsaber at him.

"You've failed. Surrender or be destroyed." The Jedi says not lowering his weapon on him while using the Force to recover his blaster pistol and holster it.

"Never." He refuses.

"Then join your fallen soldiers in the Force." Theron says, preparing to execute him.

Suddenly, the blast shutters explode earning the attention of both attention of both the Level 5 and Jedi.

"Jedi scum!" 3571 shouts at him.

Accelerator perks up at that word again and looks at Theron with curiosity.

_"That word again." He says in his head. "Is that son of a bitch talking about him?"_

Just then a beam of yellow energy sends Accelerator flying into a pillar, knocking him down on the floor. He had just turned off his electrode when he got the copied data back before destroying it.

The smoke clears and reveals that it's none other than the Terror Walker from the sewers.

"I thought I took out that thing." Theron says with frowned look on his face.

Theron then notices that 3571 is running away while severely injured. He decides to go after him but Accelerator, who had just recovered from being sent flying into a support pillar, blocks his way with his retractable crutch.

"Forget about him." He says to the Jedi. "You should focus on that crawling trash heap that fired a laser cutter at me, and right now my battery is almost dead for this stupid piece of shit around my neck. I saw that you were holding your own and dealt with those guys in white and black armor, so you're on your own."

"I know what I'm doing." Theron retorts but he then senses danger and quickly deactivate his lightsaber just before he stops a huge yellow laser beam with his right hand.

The droid walker was at full power and continues to keep going. Theron was struggling a bit and he reaches out with his left hand and fires lightning out of his fingertips.

_"His lightning shield's not active!" He deduces in his thoughts. "Now's my chance!"_

With all his strength, Theron Force pushes the Terror Walker back outside and jumps out of the broken window, landing on the concrete pavement. The droid gets back up and prepares to fire again but Theron ignites his saber in reverse grip and throws it at one of its legs, slicing it off. Then, he Force jumps on top of the droid's head/body as the lightsaber flies back into his hand, and pierces through the hull. Theron then uses his left hand to channel Force lightning inside of the droid through his saber like a lightning rod.

The walker droid starts losing control as it keeps firing its beam all over. The Jedi then pulls his saber out of the droid and slices its laser cutters off of it and jumps onto one of its joints to slice off another one of its legs. He then hops back down to the ground just as the droid turns around, all pissed at him and lunges one of its front legs at him who turns around with his lightsaber off and casually stops it with the Force by a mere few inches at his face. Theron then Force lifts him up in the air and Force crushes the Terror Walker into a ball of lump metal. He then let's go of his Force grip on the destroyed walker droid and ignites his lightsaber before jumping in the air for an uppercut slice and goes to the other side of the huge metal lump that lands on the ground, and he grips his saber with two hands and slams down on the metal lump, slicing it in two halves.

Theron stands back up from his crouching position and looks at his accomplishment as his sapphire blade hums.

'Shhhzzzt' the sapphire blade extinguishes back into his lightsaber hilt and clips it back onto his belt with the small circular magnet located at lower part of his hilt.

"So your a telekinetic and an electromaster?" Accelerator wonders as he walks toward him with his crutch when the Jedi turns his head toward him. "You can't be an Esper since no one can have more than one ability, so you have to be from that 'other' side then."

"If you're referring to magic, then no, I'm not a magician." Theron shakes his head. "I noticed that data drive you destroyed. what was on that, and why was he after it that would make it so important to the Empire?"

"Tch. That's none of your fucking business." He says. "And what do you mean you're not a magician? You just used telekinesis and lightning."

"I'll explain later. Right now, I need to go after that Purge trooper. He has something I need to know about."

Accelerator was a little upset that he didn't answer his question but decides to ask him again later whenever there's time.

"Tch. Whatever."

Just then, a large object is seen over School District 23's flat concrete fields as the two look up when a huge shadow flew over them.

"What the hell is that?" The Vector manipulator questions. "That thing's 16 kilometers long and huge. An airship?"

"Shit, that's no airship. That's an Imperial Star Destroyer!"

"Huh?" The Level 5 asks again, not getting what he's talking about.

_"Theron, you read me?!" Uiharu's voice chirps up from the Jedi's communicator._

"Yeah, I read you!" Theron responds.

_"Misaka and Saten has just finished getting the freed hostages to safety and Shirai, Konori, and I have done the rest by using the drones. But right now, we've got another big problem! Our city's satellites just detected something huge that just entered our Earth's atmosphere! I think it's a spaceship of some kind!"_

"It's a Star Destroyer. Seems to me that their commander must've learned we've jammed their communications, and it seems he's using it to bombard this entire area while evacuating his forces."

"_And the commander?" Shirai butts in._

"He ran off just before I could kill him when he refused to surrender. It doesn't matter now. I need get out of here before I get bombed on."

_"You'll never get clear in time." R4 chirps in Binary. "You'll need to pull it out of the sky."_

"You want me to what?!" Theron says in shock. "You're insane! It's massive!"

"_Pull it out of the sky?!" Uiharu exclaims in shock and confusion._

_"He's a telekinetic?! But he's not an Esper!" Shirai argues._

_"Just because he has powers doesn't mean he's got them from your city's technology." R4 points out._

_"Huh. I guess you've got a point there."_ _Uiharu admits._

"But R4," Theron argues. " I've only lifted starships and other normal sized objects before! Lifting a massive Imperial cruiser is totally different!"

_"You're a Jedi, meatbag!" R4 reminds him. "Size matters not. Now reach out with the Force and grip that Destroyer, or you'll die on this backwater world alone."_

_"Backwater?" Uiharu questions the astromech, a slightly offended by his small comment_.

Theron stops listening to them and puts away his comms.

"Just what the hell is going on here?" Accelerator questions with suspicion in his eyes.

"Not now. I need to concentrate. But you might want to get clear since I'm going to try and pull that huge cruiser out of the sky."

"Tch. Fine by me, but don't come crying to me for help if you can't fucking do it at all." Accelerator casually says before turning around and walks away, leaving the Jedi alone.

_"What's that guy's problem, anyway?" Theron rolls his eyes before turning toward his attention to the large cruiser in the sky._

Theron closes his eyes and reaches his right hand out with the Force, remembering what his master has taught him about differentiating sizes.

**20 BBY**

_"I can't do it!" A younger Theron with shorter hair whines as he unsuccessfully lifts a decommissioned freighter__-sized starship. "This is so different from lifting large animals or rocks!"_

_"Focus, Theron!" A man in his late 30s lectures. He wears a brown cloak with his hood down and sports a mullet (similar to Obi Wan's). "Master Yoda says that size matters not. You must let go of all doubt if you're to succeed."_

_"But master, I've tried already." He slumps down on the grass, beginning to give up._

_"Do or do not. There is no try." The exiled master quotes._

_"What does that even mean?!" Theron waves his hands in confusion at those words. "How am I supposed to do it without even trying to do it?!"_

_"That's for you to figure out." The master cryptically smiles. "You must put your trust to only in the Force. Now, again!"_

_Theron sighs and shakes his head frustratingly, and stands back up again. His master's cryptic wisdom is starting to get old sometimes. He then closes his eyes and reaches out with the Force once more as he starts to clear out all of the doubt from his mind._

**Present Day**

The scene then flashes back to the present as Theron continues to focus on using the Force to grab hold of that Star Destroyer in the sky. When he senses he has it gripped, he opens his eyes and reaches out with his other hand and begins to Force pull the large vessel out of the sky that stands 5000 feet above sea level. He notices that the ISD is taking damage from his Force grip on it, fire on parts of its hull.

Meanwhile, Shirai, Uiharu, Konori, and R4 witness at what is happening as the girls' eyes widen at something that's considered impossible from a certain point of view.

Back with Misaka and Saten, they just stood there with dumbstrucked looks on their faces, not knowing what's going on as they see a trail of smoke coming off of the ISD being pulled out of the sky.

As for the rest of the city, ITEM has just exited the movie theater when they witnessed something large being pulled out of the sky.

In the Garden of Learning, a certain Mental Out is enjoying tea with her best friend outside when they notice the large star cruiser being pulled out of the sky.

Lastly, a certain siscon sargeant is walking beside his stepsister (foster, technically) who is sitting on top of a trashbot as transport when they witnessed the same event happening in the sky.

Theron then let's go and the ship drops onto the ground, sliding across the airfield as it destroys the pavement. He then Force grips it again and attempts to slow it down as it heads toward him. However, he struggles to stop it as he grits his teeth.

"Grrrrrrrrraaaaagggghhhh!!!" He yells as it's already too much for him.

The crashed ISD was moving closer at a fast pace and Theron was forced to move out of the way and jump off the roof he was using to pull it out of the sky in the first place. The ISD finally stops sliding towards the airport as the tip of the bow is by a few meters away from touching the building. This is a major feat Theron has pulled off so far.

But what of the young Jedi? Did he survive being crushed?

**To be continued...**


	11. Act 1: Chapter 10

**Act 1: Chapter 10**

Theron wakes up with a headache, holding his head from the blood rush. His eyes then widen when he realizes that he's pinned by Star Destroyer debris. Groaning in pain, he uses the Force to lift it off of him throws it to the side, hearing a loud crash after that. Groaning, he slowly gets up without risking in further hurting himself and wobbles a bit before regaining his balance once more.

"Ow..." He mutters while shaking his head. "That was too close."

Suddenly, he hears the howling sound of two TIE fighters and looks up to see both of them escorting a black Zeta-class Imperial shuttle, leaving the planet suface in retreat.

"A Zeta-class shuttle?" He wonders aloud. "Aren't they used by the Inquisitorius and their Purge troopers?"

"Tch. The hell are you babbling about?"

Theron turns his head and sees that it's none other than Accelerator, who is sitting on some debris while holding onto his crutch.

"How hold have you been sitting there?" The Jedi asks.

"While you were napping under that pile of rubble." The Level 5 answers, not phased by the Jedi's shocked expression. "You managed to pull a spaceship out of the sky. All I've ever done was throw a large building at another building with my ability."

"Are you a Force user of some kind?" Theron questions.

"A what?" The albino boy raises his eyebrow. "I literally don't know what you're talking about. I manipulate vectors and can transform them."

"Like controlling a person's bioelectricity, or reversing his or her blood flow?"

"Yeah." He confirms._ "This guy's done his homework I see."_

"I never got your name. Who are you, anyways?"

"Tch. Accelerator. That's all you need to know."

"Theron Skywalker. Sorry about dragging you into this mess. Been hiding out on this planet for three years."

"From the Empire?"

"Yeah." He nods before realizing what he just said. "Wait, how do you know about the Empire?"

"Their commander explained it to me. Just not that much."

"Hold on. What do you mean he explained?" He asks before deducing it. "You must be the one who saved a Tokiwadai student that was held hostage."

"What's it to you, then?"

"Nothing." The Jedi shakes his head.

Suddenly, sirens are heard as the boys turn to see Anti-Skill transports coming to their location.

"Looks like Yomikawa's unit is here" Accelerator mumbles under his breath as he gets up and starts walking away. "Best get back to the apartment before she learns I'm not there. I should have enough battery to get home on time."

"Wait!" Theron shouts at him walking away who stops to listen. "I thought you want answers from me."

"Next time."

"What, you're not going to thank me for saving your ass from this ISD?" Theron jokes.

"Tch. Don't push it." Accelerator threatens, starting to get annoyed with the Jedi's trolling.

The strongest Esper then turns on his electrode and uses his ability to leap from rooftop to rooftop as Theron could no longer see him in his sights.

"Nerfherder." Theron grumbles, not liking his attitude. Then again, that would make himself a hypocrite.

When three Anti-Skill transports arrived, its officers jumped out from the back guns trained on Theron.

"Stand down, men!" Yomikawa orders as she walks past them, to which they lowered their weapons. "This boy's saved many lives today."

"And prevented your entire planet from being conquered, thank you." He smart mouthed, which the woman ignores.

Behind her was Theron's friends with relieved looks on their faces.

"Theron!" Saten exclaims as she and her friends run past Yomikawa and now stand in front of him. "Thank God you're alright."

"I'm not looking for praise if that's what you're saying, Saten." The Jedi says.

"At least you're still in one piece." Misaka smiles before her eyes widen at the ISD behind him. "But holy shit, It's massive!"

"I agree, Sissy." Shirai nods as she looks at it too along with the others except for Theron who is looking at them. "It's got to be what? 1000 meters long?"

"1600." He corrects her.

"1600?!" The girls exclaimed in shock.

"That's a mile long." Uiharu chirps, not changing her expression.

"I'm surprised you managed to pull that thing out of sky with ease." Konori admits, surprising Saten and Misaka.

"Eh?!" They shouted.

"Hold on, I just wanted to make sure that I'm hearing this right." The Level 0 says, confused to what Theron did. "You used telekinesis to grip that huge spaceship and pull it down from the sky?!"

"I wouldn't say it's fully telekinesis, but no, it was not easy to pull off a feat like that."

"Huh? What do you mean? Surely that's your power and all."

"Im sorry, he did what?" Yomikawa interrupts, confused at what's going on. "Are you an Esper? Because you said you're a tourist."

"I'm not an Esper." He shakes his head in annoyance, tired of that same question already. "But it's more than just telekinesis."

"That doesn't make sense at all, Theron." Shirai deadpans. "If you're not an Esper, then what are you?"

Theron looks at R4 for a second.

"Don't do it. Revealing your power is enough on our plates." The droid warns with a grumble.

Theron sighs.

"Fine. I'll explain everything to you."

"But you're hurt." Misaka points out his current condition, earning concerned looks from her friends as they look at him. "You'll need to go to the hospital and get checked up."

"No need. I have R4 here that can do it."

The droid launches a small green tube out of its dome and Theron catches it in his hand. The boy then stabs it into his shoulder, gritting his teeth before he's no longer injured.

"What was that you did?" Uiharu asks.

"Healing stem." He answers. "I always carry them with me when I'm on the field."

"Are you sure about that?" The Anti-Skill woman questions, concerned for his health.

"I am, and being in a public hospital isn't my thing really."

Theron then sits down on a pile of ISD debris.

"Well, find something to sit on because it's going to take awhile to get it all out and its alot to take in for all of you guys."

**Meanwhile...**

Accelerator opens the door and enters his home where an angry Last Order is glaring at him.

"Coffee, you say?, questions Misaka Misaka as she taps her foot in anger for being lied to."

"Tch." He answers as he takes off his shoes and walks past her who she then follows him, still not leaving him alone.

"You said you'd be back soon!," shouts Misaka Misaka at him! "And now, you went off to rescue Misaka 11626 on your own and nearly got yourself killed!"

"I'm back, right? Doesn't really concern me right now."

"Bu-!"

"Kid, if you don't drop the subject then no more cookies for you!" He threatens after he stops walking. Damn, brat. I'm not in the mood to explain right now. Where's Worst?"

"Hmph! You can be so stubborn you know that?, says Misaka Misaka, clearly not phased by his empty threats while crossing Misaka Misaka's arms. "As for your question, she's busy cooking in the kitchen."

"Huh? Worst is cooking?" He wonders. "That's a first."

"Right?!, exclaims Misaka Misaka as she's trying to comprehend on what's going on here."

"Tch. Whatever. I'll be in my room." He says as he opens the door to his room and walks in before closing it.. "Let me know when dinner's ready."

"You got it!, acknowledges Misaka Misaka with a gleeful grin as she giggles loudly."

Last Order then runs off to the kitchen to inform Accelerator's return to Misaka Worst.

**Elsewhere...**

The doors slide open as PT-3571 enters the bridge of the command ship. The admiral notices him.

"With our forces easily bested by a less advanced civilization, it will be sometime before we can try again. Only this time, with force." The Imperial admiral says.

"Where is the Inquisitor?"

"He has been reassigned and has left the system by order of Lord Morgoth. Why may you ask, sir?"

"Clear the bridge." 3571 orders, wanting to be left alone.

The Admiral nods without hesitation and orders the bridge crewmen to clear out. After they are gone, the door closes and the Purge trooper kneels with his missing arm as a blue hologram appears.

"Yes?" The figure in the hologram says.

"Things didn't go as planned, my lord." The Purge trooper reports. "The enemy has proven to be more tactful than we originally thought."

"Is that so?" He questions. "It seems your predecessor has underestimated them after all. What's the status of your forces?"

"Mostly killed or captured by the city's military police."

"There is no way that these primitives could have done this alone."

"No. They had help. A Jedi by the looks of it."

The fugure in the hologram reveals himself more clearly to him. He wears a black robe with a hood over his mask that has eye holes with red Sith markings on it, and fashions a black and red chestpiece made of durasteel.

The figure then summons his lightsaber into his hand with the Force.

"Withdraw the fleet from the Sol system, and come to me on

Driox. And you will tell me everything about this Jedi."

"Yes, my lord." He complies to his superior with his head lowered.

Suddenly, the figure ignites his crimson blade, startling the Purge trooper a bit.

"Commander, you and I will be working much closely from now on." He says in a threatening tone. "Failure will not be tolerated."

And like that he deactivates his blade and the hologram disappears, therefore ending the transmission.

Later outside, the remaining two ISDs leaving Titan's orbit and jumps into hyperspace.

**End of Act 1**


	12. Interlude I

**_A/N: Big shout-out to Star Wars Theory on YouTube for making such an incredible fanfilm for respected fans within the Star Wars community. Credit goes to him._**

**To****_ my fellow readers. If you have not seen Vader - Episode I: Shards of the Past, go check it out on YouTube before beginning this chapter as this has been implemented into the Force Eternal and considered spoilers. If you have or don't care about said spoilers, enjoy this special chapter as this will tie in with the main story for our hero Theron in the future._****_Thank you._**

**Interlude**** I**

**Anakin Skywalker is DEAD.**

**For 3 months, the mysterious DARTH VADER has enforced the Emperor's commands.**

**For some, the EMPIRE brings fear.**

**For others, it brings hope.**

**But for Vader, it brings nothing but SUFFERING...**

**7 Years**** Prior...**

An alarm of a starship echoes.

"There isn't any way out of this! What are you doing?!" A voice demands.

We are now shown Vader up close to where red sunlight shines through the window of a star cruiser, reflecting off of his helmet and mask.

"Drop him! Surrender and you'll live!" Tje voice threatens from behind the Dark Lord. "You're outnumbered! Think about this! You will never escape! We will fire! Let him go! Now!"

"I will not be denied." Vader says with s clench of his fist, igniting his red lightsaber blade with a hiss sound.

"OPEN FIRE!"

Vader turns around and starts deflecting blaster fire from the Clone Shock Troopers wearing white Phase II armor with red markings that are known as the Coruscant Guard, while the Sith is simultaneously Force choking someone.

"Blast him!"

Vader swing deflects a blaster bolt like a baseball bat - with only one hand - back at his chest and helmet, killing him.

"Incoming!/He's still got him!/Blast him!" The troopers shouted as they continue to fire at him.

Vader deflects another back at another clone.

"I'm hit!" The clone screams before dying.

Vader then deflect kills three Imperial Navy officers along with another clone.

"Brother!" Another clone cries out to his fallen comrade before getting hit in the helmet by a deflected blue laser bolt.

"Reinforcements coming!"

Vader notices shadows of more troops outside of the room and deflect kills another Clone in which the bolt went through him and destroy the door panel to lock the door before finishing the remaining Clone troopers in the room.

The person being choked broke free but Vader quickly turns around and stops him from touching the ground before Force choking the figure again, lifting him up in the air.

"Now... You will answer for your treachery." Vader says to his choking enemy.

He Force squeezes his neck, knocking him unconscious with his body limping midair. Then, the doors blow up and 3 Clones come in with heavy Gatling guns. Vader turns around still holding his victim in the air as his red blade hums before they fire barrages of laser fire, forcing him to block at fast speeds.

"Keep firing!" One of them shouts.

Vader could no longer keep up with blocking the barrages before his lightsaber is shot out of his hand, dropping on the floor.

"We've got him!" Another said, believing they have killed him.

How wrong he is as the barrages were frozen in midair by Vader himself as his hand is outstretched at them. The stupid fools just keep firing as more are stopped as well. The Sith Lord looks back at his target.

"There is no escape."

He casually Force sling the over 50 laser bolts back at the three screaming Clones, killing them instantly. One of them has burn holes on his helmet as they collapsef on the floor.

Upon a closer look, Vader is choking an elderly man wearing a black robe with a hood concealing his disfigured face. This is the Emperor himself.

"You will suffer for your deceit. Answer for your failure to save... HER." Vader says to him.

He then lifts the Emperor up and slams him to the floor. The latter tries to crawl away but Vader uses the Force to crush one of his legs, the cracking sound of bones heard aloud. However, the latter kept on crawling.

"I destroyed your enemies. Forged for you an empire."

Vader then Force crushes his other leg.

"Yet like the Jedi," Vader continues. "You have left me a mere shadow of what I was promised. You've taken... EVERYTHING!"

"Everything?" The Emperor speaks in a malicious voice. "Foolish boy. You grief for a dead wife of an insolent Jedi."

The Emperor turns around to face his enforcer.

"You're precious Padme's fate was YOUR choice." He continues. "Just as your fate is MINE."

Raising his hands up with his fingers out, he cackles evilly. You can't see it but Vader's eyes widen at what he's about to do and quickly uses the Force to block a flurry of purple-blue Force lightning at him with a dead royal red guard.

Vader then uses the Force to ignite his red saber on the floor and hurls it at the Emperor but he stops it with the Force at a mere inch to his face while simultaneously casting lightning at the dead human shield. He continues to cackle like a madman as Vader is doing his best to block it as the lightning starts weakening the Force barrier he put up as well.

It was now too much for Vader, no matter how powerful he is in the Dark Side, and the lightning blew up his Force Barrier and bypass the human shield with Vader caught in the blast, temporarily short circuiting his life support system within his armor. He now is on his knees and starts wheezing as he can't breathe properly without it.

The Emperor Force heals his legs as bones crack back in place and stands up with a cackle. Looking down at the Sith Lord, he slowly walks toward him.

"Such a pity. How much grander and more powerful you still could've become." He mocks Vader. "If you have had the temerity to embrace the path set before you."

Vader attempts to Force choke Palpatine again but he quickly casts lightning on him, electrocuting him more while cackling once more, believing he has won.

Vader, however, isn't giving up that easily as he clenches his fist, cracking the floor. He quickly Force crushes both the Emperor's hands with ease, stopping the lightning casting on the former. He then Force pulls him and grips him into a chokehold, slowly crushing his neck as he gives him a death stare with his masks red eye lenses. With a snap, Vader releases him and drops his body on the floor, now dead with his lifeless eyes open.

Vader retrieves his saber with the Force and holsters it before noticing something on the floor. He picks it up and recognizes it. It's a carved pendant from a long time ago.

"I made this for you. So you'd remember me. It will bring you good fortune." A boy's voice says.

Vader then looks up to see a boy almost 10 and a girl around 14 talking.

"It's beautiful." The girl says in awe. "But I don't need this to remember you by. My caring for you will always remain.

Vader attempts to reach out to the girl but hesitates. He lowers his arm and looks down with sadness.

"Anakin."

Vader looks up again and sees the girl looking at him.

"Padme." He says with relief.

He and Padme then embrace in a hug, with the former being happy in seeing his love again.

"And that..." She begins, but unexpectedly opens her eyes glowing yellow and her voice has changed. "Is why you will never... defeat... me."

The Emperor cackles evilly once more as he appears in front of the Sith Lord all of the sudden. Vader no longer sees Padme as she suddenly just vanished in the blink of an eye.

"As long as you let your feelings anchor you... Forever shall you remain weaker than I."

He raises his hands again, preparing his attack. Vader starts breathing faster, fear building up underneath his mask.

"Always the servant. Always the slave, YOUNG SKYWALKER!"

He casts lightning at him, knocking him on the floor with Vader on his back while painfully being electrocuted to death and hearing the Emperor's evil cackles echoing in the background.

"Anakin." Padme's voice echoes in Vader's head. "Anakin. Anakin! ANAKIN!"

_"Lord Vader, you have an urgent message."_

**...**

Vader opens his yellow eyes with a gasp, breathing heavily. It was all just a dream. A figment of his own imagination of him successfully killing the Emperor, only to fail once more.

"My Lord?" The voice of an Imperial officer speaks through the intercom.

"Proceed."

"The Emperor demands your presence at once." The voice informs the Dark Lord.

Vader stays silent for a moment at what he just dreamed of.

"Lord Vader?"

Vader turns his head forward and his eyes suddenly turn to its normal sky blue color.

"As he wishes." He answers.

Not wearing his armor, we see Vader covered in third degree burns with no traces of hair on him (including eye lashes and eyebrows). He's also missing all of his limbs as he is hung up in some chamber room.

**19 BBY** **(Month 8)**

**Above Geonosis**

The door to the throne room on the Venator-class Star Destroyer opens as Vader enters inside with two Imperial royal guards on each side. Vader approaches the Emperor, looking out the window, but kept his distance. Hopefully, the victorious plan that was short-lived in his nightmare would possibly work for real this time.

"Guards... Leave us." The Emperor commands.

Vader looks as the guards leave the small throne room. The Sith Lord does his best to hide his rage, thwarted that the same plan he dreamed of to overthrow the Emperor has now failed. Again.

He then kneels before his Sith Master as his raspy breathing echoes the silent room.

"What is thy bidding, my Master?"

The Emperor turns around, slightly concerned for his apprentice as he walks toward him.

"You are distressed, my friend."

"I am fine, my Master." Vader answers calmly as he looks down at the floor.

"Are you now?" His master questions further as as he places a hand on his shoulder to get a better focus on Vader's emotions that the latter's trying to hide. "Your anger radiates like a whirlwind. Yet... Unfocused. (As he looks at him) No. Not unfocused. Hidden. You are trying to hide your rage from me. Why?"

Then, the Emperor soon realizes and removes his hand from Vader's shoulder. The older man walks back to the window and looks at the construction of a massive space station.

"Ahhh... I see." He says. "Then what is your hesitation, Lord Vader? (raises his arms to show he won't fight back, mostly due to the two having a close father-son bond from before) Give in to your anger! Strike me down!"

"I have no such wish, master."

The Emperor hears this and grits hid teeth in anger and annoyance. He turns around and quickly Force snatches Vader's lightsaber and the humming red blade is suddenly an inch towards the latter's neck as Vader look up.

"PATHETIC! A mighty Sith Lord crippled by melancholy and indecision! All due to the attachments of a Jedi!"

"There is no attachment. Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him!"

"Did you?! Yet Skywalker's powers dwarfed yours! Did they not?!"

Vader looks at him, flinching at his master's point. Thankfully, the Emperor didn't notice his flinching.

"No?" The Sith master starts calming down.

Taking that as his answer, the Emperor deactivates the red blade.

"Rise, Lord Vader." He commands.

Vader obeys and stands back up, focusing his gaze on the Emperor.

"It is the way of the Sith to destroy all who stand in our way to power. To eliminate our rivals... Is it not?" He reminds him with a calm tone as he stands closer in front of him.

He hands Vader's lightsaber back at him, to which Vader takes it from him but doesn't put it away.

"Who stands in your way, Lord Vader? Who holds you back? Keeps you subjected and decrepit within that armor? Anyone?" He gestures to himself, pointing out the obvious answer. "If so... Only your hate will eradicate him. Use it."

Vader looks down at the his lightsaber he's holding with the blade emitter pointing towards the Emperor's chest by a few inches. His thumb is on the rectangular activation button as he looks up at him, his raspy breathing slowing down. The Emperor is allowing him to kill him without having to fight back against his own apprentice! Vader could do it right now and become the next Dark Lord of the Sith and ruler of the Galaxy! Unfortunately, there's one small problem.

"I... Cannot, my Master." He hesitates again, looking down in shame.

The Emperor sighs disappointingly and frustratingly.

"That is why my disappointment with you grows by the second!" He lectures as he places a on hand Vader's shoulder again like a caring father would. "Embrace the choices that have brought you here! Revel in them. Or forever live in the shadow of Anakin Skywalker."

The Emperor let's him go and turns around towards his throne seat.

"Now... I have a task for you, my young apprentice." He changes the topic for now as he sits down and looks at Vader. "There's a great disturbance in the Force. A powerful Jedi survives in the Mid Rim. He must pay the price for his betrayal."

"As you wish." Vader complies. However, his master wasn't finished yet.

"He hides on my home planet of Naboo."

Vader perks up at the familiar world. Could he be-? No, not possible.

"And of course... that of the late Queen Padme Amidala."

Vader breathes slightly faster at the mentioning of that name but immediately calms down.

"It is no coincidence. He draws you there because he knows who you are, Lord Vader. The clones there report he wields and amethyst blade."

Vader is in complete shock once again. Is his master referring to that certain Jedi Master? But the Emperor killed him, and Vader saw the whole thing when it happened.

"How is that possible?" Vader asks his master.

"Power. That's how. And you and I both know that this particular Jedi wields a great deal of it."

"I will finish what we've started, Master."

"Will you?" The Emperor smugly questions before sinisterly smirking. "I wonder."

He then stands up and walks beside Vader, placing a hand on him as they walk towards the exit.

"Eliminate this Jedi. Pledge yourself to the Dark Side fully, Lord Vader. Relish in the gifts bestowed upon you. Only then will you be able to cast off the chains that bind you. And achieve a power as never before. Only then will you be able to destroy... The rival before you." He finishes to Vader, gesturing to himself on what he's talking about.

"Then I will not fail..." Vader bows his head before him. "Master."

The armored Sith Lord exits the throne room, leaving the Emperor alone.

**...**Vader's modified black Imperial Eta 2 Actis Jedi interceptor exits the Venator SD that orbits the planet Geonosis. It docks with a hyperspace ring and makes the jump to light speed.

**Meanwhile...**

"Commander, prepare my personal shuttle." The Emperor orders on his communicator. "I seemed to be inflicted by a sudden touch of nostalgia to visit my beloved Naboo."

He cackles loudly while looking outside of his window in the throne room.

**Later...**

The Starfighter flies through the blue wormhole and exits hyperspace, revealing a green planet with three different moons in orbit (one of them is fractured). The ship ejects from the ring and opens it's S foils as it flies down towards the planet surface where a rainstorm is brewing.

**Naboo**

The ship lands on a platform of the Naboo Royal Crypt with one of the moons illuminating the night sky. After exiting the ship, Vader enters inside where the clone commander of the Coruscant guard fills the Sith Lord in on details while briefly walking. The architecture does look amazing, to be honest.

**_(A/N: It does look like it's from the Italian Renaissance, readers)_**

"Welcome, Lord Vader." The Commander of the Coruscant Guard named Fox greets the Dark Lord. "The Jedi's barricaded himself in the catacombs and sealed off all of the entrances. So we had to blow our way in. But now of all the troopers we've sent in, none have returned."

"Lost troopers do not concern me, commander." Vader answers without care as the two stop walking and face each other. "I want that Jedi. I will use the 501st."

**_(A/N: It's pronounced Five-Oh-First)_**"As you wish, sir." Fox obeys and leaves to inform his men. "Make way for the boys in blue."

"Right away sir!"

Vader looks left and right before turning around.

"Anakin.." Whispers Padme's voice.

Vader stops as he perks up from that voice he's hearing again. Suddenly, he turns around, and looks down at the dark hole as flashes of light is seen with the sound of a lightsaber slashing the troops down below in the catacombs.

"Go! Go! Go!"

"Blast him!"

"(Wilhem scream)!"

"Brother!"

"Behind him!"

"WE NEED REINFORCEMENTS!"

"HELP US!"

Their cries are silenced as an explosion is heard, flashing briefly. Then a purple glow is seen as a lightsaber's hum is heard before vanishing. Standing above and looking down the hole, Vader ignites his lightsaber, ready to face his enemy.

**...**Theron wakes up with a gasp and sits up, sweating like hell at what he just saw in his vision.

"What was that?" He questions to himself. "Why would I have a vision about someone like Vader who imprisoned me those years ago? More importantly, why was that woman's voice calling him 'Anakin' for some reason? Anakin Skywalker's dead."

Suddenly, his bedroom door opens up and R4 rolls in.

"Rise and shine, meatbag!" The droid happily beeps. "Don't forget that you're meeting up with your friends by the bus stop today."

"Hm?" Theron says before realizing what he's talking about. "Oh right! Yeah! Got it, R4! Be right down soon."

R4 then rolls out of the room before Theron closes the door to get ready.

**To be continued...**


	13. Act 2: Chapter 1

**Act 2: Chapter 1 - Aftermath** **(Part 1)**

**July 29, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**Academy City**

**School District 7**

"I'm starting to regret telling them." Theron sighs loudly as he walks down the wet city streets.

"I warned you, meatbag." R4 beeps. "Telling them more about the Empire was a bad idea. How are we going to get back to our ship that's miles away outside the city since Yomikawa has recently forged an official Earth ID after learning we weaseled our way inside the most secured city on the planet?"

"Calm down, R4. We have a speeder bike and the Force. Besides, it's not like all of Academy City knows."

"Touche." The droid grumbles.

"Still, I'm afraid we have little choice. I'm not sure if I fully trust our new friends. They've never had experience in venturing out in the galaxy."

"Uh, which galaxy?"

"The Milky Way, idiot."

"Oh." R4 whistles. "But wait. You never told them about Clone Wars or Order 66."

"I'm not planning to. It's too much for them to understand. But they deserve to know a little bit about the Jedi, though I'm not going to tell them about the Sith."

"But it's wrong to withhold information from them."

"We all have to make sacrifices, bud."

"Consider those sacrifices wisely, Theron. If they find out that they're fighting a war that they can't win, all of that of which will be destroyed."

Theron rolls his eyes.

_"Why do I even care anymore?" Theron thinks. "My master's gone. The Jedi I naively believed in are nothing more than a bunch of emotionless bastards that never understood why they're supposed to study both sides of the Force. This is all a waste of time, honestly."_

The two finally arrived at a bus stop and waited. After all, they're supposed to meet with Saten and Uiharu. Something about meeting up with Misaka and Shirai somewhere close by.

A few moments later, a bus finally came to a stop and the two Sakugawa girls got off before their ride left.

"Hey guys!" Saten greets with a cheerful tone.

"Afternoon to you too, Saten." He greets back. "You're in a cheerful mood today."

"Why wouldn't I be? You've already got an official ID since Academy City will be your new home! And this is will be the beginning of the celebration!"

"Celebration?" He cocks his head to the side in confusion.

Uiharu quickly covers her best friend's mouth to prevent her from saying anymore.

"Uh, nothing! She's just babbling nonsense! Heh, heh!" Uiharu nervously lies with a chuckle.

Saten takes her friend's hand over her own mouth off and glares at her briefly. Theron, however, raises his eyebrow suspiciously but decides to not use the Force to probe their minds out of respect.

Not long after, the four then stroll down the sidewalk.

"Where are we going exactly?" The Jedi asks.

"You'll see." Saten mischievously smirks.

"Charming." He sarcastically comments.

They then arrive at an entranceway where female students enter or exit.

"Uh, I think we have the wrong address." Theron says, confused.

"No, no. This is the right place." Saten confirms. "Misaka and Shirai are inside waiting for us."

"Hey R4." Theron turns to his astromech companion. "Why don't you wait out here? We don't want any trouble."

"You're kidding, right?" R4 beeps.

"Dude, that entranceway doubles as a security checkpoint. You wouldn't be allowed inside."

"Sorry R4, but Theron's right." Uiharu agrees with the boy. "You could be confiscated and you wouldn't want Theron to get into trouble, do you?"

The droid whistles sadly, disappointed that he can't go with them.

"I understand." The droid beeps.

"Good boy." She smiles as she pets the droid on its head dome. "We'll be back soon. See ya later."

"See ya soon, bud." Theron says with a smile as the three teens walk up to the entrance's security checkpoint.

It didn't take long, but the three showed their IDs and an invitation Shirai sent for them to the person posted there.

"Okay then. You three are clear." The security guard nods her head, confirming their invitation as valid.

The trio then pass through and are now on very familiar ground. Well, except for Theron.

"Uh..." He begins but was immediately silenced by the cheerful girl.

"Welcome to the Garden of Learning, Theron." Saten announces smugly.

"This is the Garden of Learning?" Theron questions. "I was expecting something more... I don't know... like a greenhouse?"

Saten and Uiharu sweatdrop at what he just said before putting there confusion aside.

"Not that kind of garden, silly." Saten lectures. "The Garden of Learning."

"It's an upper class girls-only small district within School District 7." Uiharu begins explaining. "Girls who come from high society and range from Levels 3-5 are given the chance to enroll in the special schools here."

"Seriously?" He rubs the back of his head, slightly confused. "If it's a rich girls-only thing, then why are we getting strange faces since we're outsiders here? Not to mention that I'm a guy."

"That's simple." The Level 0 girl casually explains. "We usually stand out due to our sailor uniforms we're wearing, and those clothes of yours as well. Though come to think of it, they look all torn up."

"Well, I did just pull a Star Destroyer out of the sky yesterday." He admits with a shrug.

"And the reason it's not restricted to only rich girls is because the Garden allows guests inside as long as you're invited by someone who stays here." The Level 1 girl finishes.

"Like Misaka and Shirai." He deduces.

"Yep." She nods.

"Is this what you were talking about as part of this celebration of yours, Saten?" He crossed his arms. "Or are you just doing this to impress me?"

"Wha-what?!" Saten exclaims as her face turns red in embarrassment, nervously laughing. "Not at all! Why would you think I'm trying to impress someone from another planet like you that I just met?!"

"Uh huh. Sure." He sarcastically says, not buying her little lie.

"A-anyways, we should meet up with Misaka and Shirai by their school's front gate! Come on!"

But just as she starts running, she slips on a puddle and gasps as she falls on her back. However, she did not land into it as her body is held still. Confused, she tilts her head upward to see that Theron is using the Force to stop her from falling into the puddle.

"You're welcome." Theron deadpans.

"For goodness sakes, Saten." Uiharu sighs in amusement. "We REALLY don't want a repeat like before."

_Flashback_

_It was only a year ago that Saten fell into a puddle and had to wear a Tokiwadai uniform so that her own uniform can be cleaned and sent to her home. The skirt, however, was so small that she gets all shy and uncomfortable._

Saten chuckles in embarrassment as she recalls that time.

"Repeat?" Theron asks, flustering the girl in question again.

**...**

"They're running late, aren't they?" Misaka asks Shirai as they are waiting by the front gate outside of Tokiwadai Middle School.

"I swear. If Saten has fallen into another puddle, I'm going to lose it." Shirai mutters aloud.

"Sorry we're late, guys!"

That voice belonged to Uiharu as the Tokiwadai girls turn their heads around and see that Uiharu, Saten, and Theron have arrived.

"Hey, you three!" Misaka greets. "Glad that you could make it, Theron. We were sure you wouldn't after what happened yesterday."

"It's not a problem at all. Since Academy City's going to be my home for awhile, I thought I would just go. To celebrate our victory against the Empire."

"Oh yes, that." Shirai agrees with him. "The Galactic Empire that's been enslaving your home galaxy in your home dimension, right?"

"Yep." He nods. "I kinda wished Konori was here with us. She helped out drive them away from Earth for now."

"She's busy finishing up filing reports to our superiors at the Judgement office."

"Guess Konori likes to keep herself busy in Judgement work, huh?" The Level 0 rhetorically asks.

"Pretty much." Shirai shrugs. "I sometimes don't get why she doesn't want to take a day off most of the time."

"But anyways, where's your astro droid?" Misaka asks the boy. "Surely he should be with you and all."

"Had to leave him by the only entranceway into the Garden of Learning." He explains. "Security wouldn't let him in and I hope he's staying out of trouble."

"Should we be worried about that?" Shirai questions him.

"He's a droid. If he can handle being by himself in the galaxy, I'm sure he can do it again on Earth."

"I'll take your word for it, then." The Teleporter nods.

"So, to the bakery?" The Railgun asks everyone.

**...**

Not long after, the five teens are at the bakery in their seats, waiting for thekr treats. Theron, however, politely declines having one as he promises them to talk about his true identity.

"So you're a Jedi?" Saten asks him as the girls wait for their treat.

"Was." He answers.

"What's a Jedi?" Shirai asks.

"They were once guardians of peace and justice that have sworn in protecting the galaxy where I was from." He explains. "Originally, they were philosophers and scholars that study the galaxy's mysteries."

"So what? You're a religious space cop?" The Teleporter scoffs in disbelief as she's more of an atheist than a religious follower.

"Space cop is an understatement, Shirai." He deadpans. "The Jedi Knights are meant to guide others on what choice they take, not make it for them."

"So, the Jedi are a religious order of knights then?" Misaka concludes._ "Now where have I heard that before?"_

Just then, the girls's sweets arrived and they dig in while continuing to listen to him.

"Like I said, they were." He reminds her. "Back then, there were ten thousand of us protecting the galaxy but were under the jurisdiction of the Galactic Republic as they couldn't help other neutral star systems. And even if we weren't, there aren't enough of us to do so."

"Galactic Republic?" The girls question in confusion.

"The Empire's previous major galactic power."

They nod in understanding.

"Wait, you said the Jedi were under Republic jurisdiction. Why?" Saten curiously asks.

"Let's just say that the Jedi have a track record of making a lot of stupid mistakes in the past. Directly and indirectly."

Despite the Jedi being peacekeepers, they have literally made alot of them throughout their lifetime.

"Mistakes?" Misaka asks.

"Yeah." He nods. "Like helping a pacifist bitch converting an artistic warrior culture into a pacifist civilization. Backed by the Republic too."

"Are you saying that the Republic doesn't have a military?" Uiharu deduces. "That kinda sounds stupid to me."

"Couldn't agree more, Uiharu." Shirai agrees with her.

"I won't go into too much detail, but they originally did a thousand years earlier in my universe. It's why the Jedi were under their jurisdiction and are more worried about their own interests than letting the Jedi help other worlds that remain neutral to the Republic. Then, about 10 years ago, a civil war broke out and the Republic fought against a short-lived faction called the Separatist Alliance who believed that the Republic have become corrupted and were less caring about their people. Of course, the Seps were no better and the Republic won the war."

"Aside from the Republic being a corrupted government, they at least didn't allow this civil war to go on forever." Misaka sarcastically comments. "

"Yeah, except the war was orchestrated."

The girls perked up at this.

"What are you talking about?" Saten asks.

"The Republic's last Supreme Chancellor manipulated both sides that not even the Jedi were aware of, and they were falsely accused of treason."

The girls eyes widen in shock.

"At the end of war, the Jedi were hunted down and killed, resulting in a galactic wide purge. They didn't even spare the children."

"Theron... I'm so sorry." Saten says with sadness in her voice.

Her friends feel the same thing.

"Don't be. My master and I were never involved in the war. Not mention, I'm not officially recognized as a Jedi due to my master being expelled from the Order."

Now this got them confused. How is he a Jedi if he's not officially recognized as one?

"But anyways, the Chancellor declared himself Emperor and reorganized the Republic into the first Galactic Empire, promising the people for a 'safe and secure society.'"

"That sounds alot like BS to me." Shirai says in disgust.

"Believe me, it is." He nods. "After that, the Empire soon took control of many neutral systems and enslaved most species since the regime itself is ruled by humans."

This disgusted the girls even more as they truly hate slavery and racism.

"But what about the Jedi? Did some survived the purge?" Saten questions.

"A few, but I doubt that they're still alive. Knowing that the remaining Jedi could be a threat to them, the Empire decided to hunt down the last of them in hiding before they could have a chance to rebuild and fight back." He concludes his story, though he didn't tell them everything as it would be too much for the girls to understand.

"So if the Empire is here in our universe, then they must have a real bone to pick with you." Shirai snorts, still in disbelief of what he finished explaining.

"Not really since I never had a record in the Jedi archives." He casually says.

"How are you so calm about it?" Saten says in disbelief.

"I've been on your planet for three whole years, Saten. But now that they know who I am, they'll be back in greater numbers."

"Well, with you around I'm sure we'll be able to prevail." Uiharu declares with determination.

"I wouldn't be to sure." Misaka says, earning looks from her friends.

"How come, Sissy?" Shirai asks curiously.

"Since the Empire will be back in greater numbers, it'll be a long while before they can try again. We were lucky to prevent an invasion from them."

They thought for a moment and realized that she's got a point.

"She's right." Theron says. "And if the rest of the world finds out that they're not alone in the universe, there would be mass panic. Thankfully, your civilization is the only one that is aware of them, though indirectly due to the lack of information everyone in Academy City has. But for me, I can't do this sort of thing. Not after I lost my master."

"What?" Saten says in shock. "Why?"

"It's personal." He cryptically answers.

**16 BBY**

_Theron runs through a forest as he storms inside the small cabin._

_"Master Shan!" He calls out to him._

_"I know." His master says as they hear an Imperial TIE and shuttle land outside of their home. "It's time."_

_Theron nods and quickly gathers his things from his room. He then notices R4._

_"What's going on, meatbag?"_

_"We're leaving, R4." He explains. "They're here. I don't know how they were able to find us."_

_Both he and the droid exit his room and notice that his master is nowhere to be found._

_"Master?" Theron calls out._

_The boy runs outside and sees bodies of dead Purge troopers. Theron then looks up to see that Master Shan is fighting a Dark side user, green clashing with red. It looks like his master has the upper hand until he senses his Padawan and turns around to see him only to be stabbed through the chest from behind._

_"No!!!" He shouts, Force pushing the Dark side adept into a tree._

_Theron then runs up to his severely injured father figure and holds him into his arms._

_"Theron... Promise... promise me that you will survive in these dark times no matter what." The dying exiled Jedi says._

_"No master, don't go!" The boy pleads, tears covering his eyes._

_"The Force is strong in you. Pass on what you have learned." With one final gasp he closes his eyes and passes away._

_Theron cries as tears drop onto his master's chest._

_"Such a tragedy." The killer mockingly comments as he gets back up and ignites his red blade. "Being an Inquisitor has taught me one thing: Loss gives strength."_

_Theron looks up and grits his teeth in hatred as his eyes turn yellow._

_"But you..." He continues. "You already know the definitive meaning of loss, didn't you?"_

_In blind rage, Theron ignites his lightsaber and charges at him. However, the Inquisitor easily blocks it with one hand and knee kicks him in the stomach before Force pushing the boy into a tree, knocking the latter's saber out of his hand. Theron attempts to recover his hilt but the Inquisitor quickly uses the Force to take it from him, and looks down on him._

_He then kicks the boy in the face, knocking him unconscious. He deactivates his own lightsaber and picks the boy up over his shoulder and hops back in his TIE interceptor._

_The fighter hovers off the ground and open fires on the hut, blowing it into smithereens before flying away with the boy. Unbeknownst to the Inquisitor, R4 was hiding behind a tree after he witnessed Theron get taken. Good thing the astromech got out before being basted into pieces along with the hut that now burns._

**...**

"Theron. Theron!"

The now grown up teen snaps out of his thoughts recollecting his master's death and sees that the girls have concerned lookd on their faces.

"Are you okay?" Saten asks him.

"It's nothing." He answers, not wanting to talk about it as he looks outside the window.

The girls wanted to know what he's hiding but decided to not pry into it for now.

**To be continued...**


	14. Act 2: Chapter 2

**Act 2: Chapter 2 - Aftermath (Part 2)**

After finishing eating their baked goodies, the five left the shop and decided to stroll around the Garden of Learning throughout the afternoon. Saten, however, is still bothered about something.

_"Ever since I have this power, I've been subconsciously been using it in life threatening situations like when I nearly fell to my death and at the last minute stopped myself all of a sudden." She recalls in her thoughts as she and her friends continue to walk down the sidewalk. "But then I sensed this power coming from Theron, and I had no idea that he pulled that Star Destroyer thingy out of the sky! I've never seen telekinetic users pull off a feat like that before. If he's not an Esper and doesn't have an AIM diffusion field like I do, even though I'm a Level 0, then what kind of power does he have?"_

"Hey Saten!"

The girl snaps out of her thoughts when Theron and the others stopped to look at her when she bumped into them.

"You space out, Saten." Uiharu says with concern. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh! Yeah! I was just thinking about something, that's all." She rubs the back of her head.

"Like wanting to know about my power that I use?" Theron deduces, earning a shocked look from her.

"Wait, how did you-?" She questions him, not knowing how he did that.

"I literally could hear your thoughts inside my head-" He begins but was interrupted by Misaka who immediately got angry st him.

"You read her mind?!" She accuses him as she recalls a certain Mental Out doing the same thing when the latter brainwashed the former's friends into forgetting her during the Daihasei Festival last September.

"It's not like that, I swear to you!" He defends. "Her thoughts just literally started being heard inside my head! She didn't have her mental barriers up! Come to think of it, she never learned about protecting her mind from being invaded, which could be a big problem. She definitely has the Force inside of her. And she's almost on par with me."

"The Force?" The Railgun girls repeats in confusion.

_"Is that what he mentioned about when he said 'May the Force be with you' to me?" Saten thinks._

Before he could explain, three girls wearing their Tokiwadai uniforms notice the group and walked up to them for a greeting.

"Hey guys!" One of the Tokiwadai girls greet them with a sincere smile.

The group noticed them and greeted them back except for Theron who is a complete stranger to the rich girls.

"Hey Awatsuki! Hey Wannai!" Shirai greets before noticing a familiar face within the trio and her expression turns to a look of annoyance. "Oh. Hey Kongou."

Theron notices the annoyed expression on her face, curious about the relationship between the two.

"You know, you don't always have to be like that, Shirai." The Level 4 Aero Hand user named Mitsuko Kongou says with a high and mighty persona. "Then again, you and I don't always see eye to eye on many things."

"But aside from that, it's nice that we noticed you four as we were in the area." The Level 3 Hydro Hand user Kinuho Wannai happily says.

"So who's this you brought with you?" The Level 3 Float Dial Maaya Awatsuki asks the Railgang as she and her two friends notice Theron in the background.

"Indeed." Kongou agrees with her. "Who is this commoner?"

"We rarely see boys venturing inside the Garden of Learning." Wannai honestly admits.

"Oh right! I clearly forgot!" Misaka realizes her mistake. "Kongou, Awatsuki, Wannai, I want you to meet a new friend of ours. He's recently moved into Academy City."

"Theron Skywalker. A pleasure to meet you three." He introduces himself with a slight bow.

"And Theron, these are me and Kuroko's friends at Tokiwadai Middle School." Misaka introduces the girl trio to him. "The one on the left is Kinuho Wannai."

Theron nods as Wannai is the girl with the honey colored short hair with blue eyes.

"The one on the right is Maaya Awatsuki."

The said girl with indigo colored long hair and eyes nods with a formal smile.

"And the one in the center is-."

"Mitsuko Kongou," The said girl with long black hair and eyes interrupts her as she takes out a fan as part of her rather dramatic introduction. "Heiress of Kongou Airlines and Level 4 Aero Hand user in Academy City."

"Uh, yeah." He answers with a raised eyebrow, finding her odd introduction as an actual ojou-sama unnecessary and awkward before he regains his composure. "Again, it's really a pleasure to meet Misaka and Shirai's friends."

"It's an honor to meet another senpai friend like Konori." Awatsuki says as she and her friends politely bow in return.

"Um, about that." Saten sweat drops at the small misunderstanding of his height. "He's 15. Around Misaka's age."

"?!" The Tokiwadai trio had shocked looks on their faces.

"That can't be right!" Kongou argues. "Surely he's a high schooler!"

"Well, hate to break it to you but Saten's correct on this one. I'm 15. It's just that Caucasians and Asians sometimes have very different body structures." He explains.

The Tokiwadai trio stood in shock when they have learned about his age, despite being five feet and nine inches taller than the seven girls at present. However, the trio eventually got past their little stutter and asked more about Theron. Unbeknownst to them, he came up with a plain cover story of his early life to which the Railgang understood why he can't tell anyone about who he really is. Not wanting to take up their friends's time with the new boy in town, they departed and hope that their paths cross again.

Wanting to continue with what they're talking about, Theron and the Railgang all sat on a bench in one of the garden's smaller parks.

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his or her power. But it's more than that." He begins explaining but stops himself from going any further.

"What do you mean?" Saten curiously asks the Jedi. "Surely you could teach me how to control and make use of it."

"I can't teach you."

"Why?"

"I didn't come to your world to rebuild the Jedi Order. And honestly, I came here to live to live a normal life and die."

They look on with shocked looks on their faces.

"But what about the Empire?" Uiharu questions him. "We can't do this alone!"

"Uiharu's right." Saten nods with a serious expression. "You promised us that you won't lie to us about anything you know. You promised me when the Empire is already invading Academy City."

"Not long after I came here by accident, I swore that I will NEVER train a new generation of Jedi. And I know only one truth. It's time for the Jedi... to end." He finally says in all sadness.

He then gets off of the bench and begins walking away.

"Thank you for inviting me, though." He turns his head back at them. "It was nice coming here."

He then continues walking to the exit, leaving the worried girls alone.

**...**

Sunset finally came, and he meets up with R4 outside the main gate of the Garden of Learning.

"Come on R4. Let's take a train and go back to the hideout." Theron informs with sadness on his face.

"Are you okay?" R4 beeps in concern for his best friend.

"I'm fine, buddy." He answers. "I just need to rest that's all."

R4 didn't push him so he left it at that.

**...**

Meanwhile, the girls are walking down the streets of School District 7 as curfew is almost here. However, they're more concerned about their new friend.

"Theron looks sad and brooding." Shirai states to her friends, in which they agree.

"I concur." Uiharu nods. "There must be some way we could do to cheer him up."

"But what can we do?" Misaka wonders.

The four girls hummed to themselves at what they should do to get him to open up to them. Then an idea came to them.

"I know!" Saten beams with excitement as she gives out her suggestion to ger friends. "Why don't we invite him over to this year's Midsummer festival? Maybe he'll like it!"

"That's a great idea, Saten!" Uiharu gasps with the same excitement in her starry eyes.

"Yeah, Saten!" Misaka snaps her fingers. "That could possibly work."

"After all, the festival is only four days from now." Shirai points out before ruining it. "Though it's really tragic that it's Sissy's final year of wearing a maid outfit."

"Okay, now you're being perverted again." Misaka looks down holding the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"But aside from that," The Level 1 changes the topic back. "It's also a big opportunity for Saten."

"Huh?" The Tokiwadai duo says in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Uiharu?" The Level 0 asks her best friend, not seeing the big picture. "It's just a festival that we're looking forward to again together, that's all."

"Oh, I know. But I'm not really talking about that." Uiharu says with a sly smirk on her face.

Misaka and Shirai were confused at first, but they then realized what she's talking and have the same expressions as Uiharu. Saten didn't get it for the first few seconds until her blue eyes widen and starts blushing when her friend has brought up about the Level 0's huge crush.

"N-no, no, no!" Saten denies in embarrassment. "He and I are just friends!"

"I don't know." Shirai says with a hand under her chin as she smirks. "You sometimes feel sexually attracted to him just as he is to you. Not to mention, he's slowly beginning to be amazed by your body and natural facial beauty."

"W-well, I don't think-." Saten stutters.

"Oh yes, I agree Kuroko." Misaka joins in on the fun as payback for getting tthe same treatment a year earlier. "Not to mention she has a perfect C-cup sized bust almost any guy would be so mesmerized with. (_thoughts filled with envy) Though her boob size are perfectly balanced between small and large, and mine are one cup size short. Life's so unfair._"

"M-Misaka!" Saten angrily shouts as her blushing turns into a deep shade of red.

The girl's heart starts pounding faster as she covers her face to hide her flustering from her teasing friends.

"So what's it going to be, Saten?" Uiharu questions, her grin not coming off at the moment as she is really enjoying teasing her best friend.

Yep. Ruiko Saten, the skirt flipper and urban legend hunter, is now truly flustered for the first time in her life over a boy from another galaxy and universe that she has a huge crush on.

**...**

Nightfall eventually came and the duo have just arrived on their hideout. Theron opens the automatic door with the Force, and he and his astromech went inside.

R4 heads for his charging station as Theron goes toward the fridge to grab a canned root beer. Just as he took one out and closed the fridge door, he senses a disturbance from behind. Force grabbing his lightsaber hilt, Theron quickly spuns around and ignites his blade.

"That's not nice of you to point that glow stick at a defenseless guest." Accelerator sarcastically jokes.

Theron sighs and shuts off his lightsaber before holstering on his belt.

"How the hell did you find this place?" He angrily demands the Vector manipulator.

"I have my ways, so don't ask." Accelerator answers, not phased by his demand as the former just stands there.

"Whatever." Theron rolls his eyes at him before taking a sip of his drink and sits down in a chair at a small table. "I'm guessing you want your answers now?"

"Indeed, Jedi. That's what those Imperials called you, right?" Accelerator casually answers as he sits on the opposite side of the table. "So start talking before I rethink your home insurance for you."

"Fine." The Jedi answers. "Just don't fall asleep or ignore the important details of what I'm about to tell you."

"Try me."

**A few minutes later...**

"So now that the Empire knows who you are given that you're a wanted fugitive in their jurisdiction, they're going to try again in greater numbers." Accelerator concludes.

"Yeah. But I'm not a fully fledged Jedi. I was merely an apprentice when my master was killed, so my training is incomplete."

"That doesn't explain you using lightning at that large droid." Accelerator deadpans.

"Maybe because I was personally trained by the second most powerful Dark Lord of the Sith." Theron mutters to himself. _"Yeah, except I learned that Force technique from my master's holocron and ancient Jedi/Sith texts."_

Accelerator heard him what he muttered but decides to not ask him since it's not his problem.

"And now that Academy City has eyes on that large hunk of metal-."

"It's called a Star Destroyer." Theron corrects him, annoyed by the Esper's smartass attitude.

"Whatever." Accelerator casually answers.

"You can do what you want with it so long as it's not for self-interest or global infighting. But I want no part in fighting the Empire."

"You're supposed to be a Jedi, right? It's your job to protect the people and fight."

"The Jedi were peacekeepers, not soldiers. They're originally independent but since the Republic took control of them, the Jedi became self-righteous and idiotic that led to their near extinction by the Empire."

"I can see why." Accelerator spats as he holds up an ancient looking book at him before planting it on the table hard. "Your outdated code is clearly the reason why you failed to defend a galaxy and snuff out the one who orchestrated a galaxy wide civil war. I wonder how that happened."

Insulted, Theron gets out of his seat as the chair drops loudly.

"Don't compare me to those fakes!" The Jedi says in anger. "It's the reason why my master was expelled from their order when he was around my age! All because a certain member of the Jedi council didn't agree with his opinions on the code!"

"Tch." Accelerator says, looking away.

Theron manages to calm himself down and picks up his chair before planting back straight and sits down.

"I guess we're done." Accelerator says as he gets out of his chair and walks toward the door. "If you really hate their code so much, then fuck it. Just fucking move on and stop brooding."

"Like you?" Theron roasts with a snort.

Accelerator grits his teeth in annoyance.

"Tch. If you're done trolling, then learn from their mistakes and be better than them." Accelerator says. "I don't know why I'm having this conversation with you, Jedi. You remind me too much of that Necromancer girl. Tch. Great. Only a matter of time before the damn Hero gets back from his vacation in England and sees that large spaceship in the middle of School District 23."

"Who?" Theron asks with a raised eyebrow.

"None of your damn business, Jedi." Accelerator says as he opens the door and exits, heading home.

Theron is clearly annoyed.

"Prick." He mutters.

Theron gets up and picks up the book and puts it back in a small chest. He then notices R4 standing in a corner.

"He's got a point, meatbag." He beeps.

"Were you eavesdropping on us?" Theron accuses as he sits on the floor.

"Yes." The droid plainly beeps.

"I know you want me to honor my master's dying words. But I'm not going back to that life." Theron stubbornly says. "Nothing can change my mind."

R4 didn't say anything and rolls toward the opened chest and picks up a holocron before tossing it at Theron.

"Open it." R4 orders his master.

Theron rolls his eyes and uses the Force to levitate the holocron as its corners separate and a hologram projects a familiar looking Jedi master.

"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."

In the hologram, he is a man in his late 30s sporting a neat hairstyle with his bangs on the right side of his head and sports a beard. He sports a normal brown colored Jedi robe with his hood down over his vanilla tan colored tunic. To Earth, he resembles the legendary Scottish/British actor Ewan McGregor. But to Theron, this man's name is Obi-Wan Kenobi; Jedi Master of Anakin Skywalker and better known as the 'Negotiator.'

"I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen." The recorded hologram says with a sad expression before becoming serious again. "With the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take its place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi: Trust in the Force. Do not return to the Temple... that time has passed. And our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged: Our trust, our faiths, our friendships. But we must persevere. And in time, a New Hope will emerge."

Obi-Wan in the recording gives a sad farewell smile.

"May the Force be with you. Always."

And so, the recording ends as the hologram vanishes and the holocron corners goes back into its cube form, floating back down into Theron's hand.

Theron gives a look at R4.

"That was a cheap move." He says, earning a snicker from his droid.

The boy closes his eyes and sighs.

Looks like he doesn't have a choice now, does he? Like they say in Academy City, 'There's never a dull moment going on.'

**To be continued...**


	15. Act 2: Chapter 3

**Act 2: Chapter 3 - The First Lesson**

**July 30, 2023 (Earth Calendar)****Academy City****School District 2****1**

**[Ach-To Island - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi plays]**

The next morning has finally came as the sun has risen over the city landscape. The four girls are walking the many steps to the top of the mountainside above the old relay outpost.

"I'm so tired." Uiharu whines, getting exhausted from climbing the steps. "Need to rest."

"Oh quit complaining, Uiharu." Saten says to her. "We're almost there."

"Easy for you to say." The flower headed girl retorts. "You three are more athletic than I am."

Eventually, they managed to reach the top and Uiharu plops on the ground, tired.

"You sure this is where we'll meet up with Theron?" Misaka asks as she looks around. "This place hasn't been touched by Academy City."

"That's what he said to me earlier." Saten shrugs, not really sure either.

"Well whatever it is, it better be worth our time." Shirai snorts, not fully trustworthy of him even if they're friends already.

"Come on Uiharu!" Saten exclaims with excitement. "You don't want to miss this, now do you? You guys could definitely learn something new for a change."

"Not thd first time I've learned new things from religious people." Misaka mumbles to herself at her experience of learning about the existence of the magic side a year prior.

"You say something, Sissy?" The Teleporter asks her.

"No, no! It's nothing!" The Railgun waves her hands at her defensively.

"Ah jeez." Uiharu sighs as she finishes recovering her breath and stands back up before following her friends.

Their isn't much on the mountainside but you can tell that it's mostly trees, bushes, grass, and a few animal species roaming around. Finally, they see Theron wearing a brown cloak with the hood down (with the ends of the cape torn) waiting by a cliff that overlooks the entire city along with Tokyo and Mt. Fuji. in the south and east. And honestly, the view is better up here than at Theron's hideout.

"Wow!" Saten and Uiharu says in awe. "It's beautiful up here!"

"Sure beats the view from ground level doesn't it, Sissy?" Shirai asks, impressed with the view.

"Couldn't agree with you more, Kuroko." Misaka agrees with her roommate.

"Good morning." Theron greets them, getting the girls' attention.

"Why did you have to bring us all the way up here?" Uiharu whines. "I was so tired from climbing those steps."

"It's better here than in the city." He answers, not bothered by her complaint. "And it's less distracting."

"That doesn't help much." Shirai mutters.

"Well, get use to it because not everything involves learning in the city like you and everyone else that's too ignorant on religion."

"Excuse me?" Misaka questions him, offended by his words since she's clearly not that ignorant to Earth's religions.

"Now then." The Jedi says, now getting down to business. "Saten, remind me about what you know about the Force."

Saten is a little taken aback by him but regains her composure.

"It's a power that the Jedi use to lift things up and read people's thoughts." She explains.

"Impressive." Theron sarcastically says. "Every word in that sentence is wrong."

"Huh?!" Saten says, confused along with her friends.

"You mean you just straight up trolled us yesterday?!" Shirai angrily yells at the unfazed boy.

"Well, what I'm going to say is cohesive." Theron says. "(mutters to himself) A much more cohesive explanation than Midichlorians, to be honest."

"Midi-what?" Misaka asks, hearing what he mumbled.

"Not important." He immediately says, not in the mood explaining about Midichlorians right now before turning his attention to Saten again as he walks up the cliff and points it with a tall grass leaf. "Anyways, lesson one. Sit here, legs crossed."

Saten angrily glares at him for being trolled like that but does what he says, and sits down on the cliff with her legs crossed as Theron stands beside her left. Her friends, meanwhile, listen in at what he's going to explain about the Force.

"The Force is not a power you have." He begins. "It's not about lifting rocks."

"It's not?" Uiharu and Shirai question but Misaka silences them.

"Shh! He's explaining." The Railgun whispers to them.

"It's the energy between all things." He continues. "The tension... the balance that binds the universe together."

"Okay." Saten nods, still confused. "But what exactly is it?"

"Close your eyes." He says.

The girl closes her eyes.

"Breathe."

She takes a deep breath.

"Now... reach out."

Saten obeys and... literally reaches out with her hand.

Theron had an expression that's mixed with annoyance and disbelief. He then uses the grass he's holding in his hand and starts tickling her hand with it.

"I feel something." She gasps with her eyes still closed.

"You feel it?" He whispers.

"Yes, I feel it."

"That's the Force!" He continues whispering.

"Really?"

"Wow! It must be really strong with you!" He sarcastically praises her.

"Oh, I never felt any-!"

But she was cut off when he slaps the grass hard on her hand. Her eyes jolt open and feels the slap on her hand.

"Ow!!!" She yelps in pain and glares at him in anger.

Saten then hears her friends start laughing at how comedic that was. She looks clearly annoyed with being laughed at before looking back at him.

He glares at her back, in which his expression on his face says, 'Dude, be serious.'

"You meant reach out like...?" She asks him.

Theron's glare intensifies with a 'yes' on his face.

"I'll try again." She says.

The Jedi then tosses away the grass and plants her hand on the ground, in which Saten's cheeks turn red at the feel of his glove covered hands.

"Breathe." He says again. "Just... breathe."

She closes her eyes again and breathes.

"Reach out with your feelings."

This got her friends' attention.

"Feelings? Like emotions?" Misaka curiously wonders. "Interesting."

"That... does make sense." Shirai admits.

"I wonder what Saten is feeling." Uiharu wonders to herself.

"What do you see?" He whispers to her.

Saten then begins to feel all kinds of things with the Force, and it feels amazing and calming to her.

"The city." She begins as she sees Academy City through the Force.

"Life."

She sees plants, animals, and humans.

"Death and decay..."

She then sees bones beneath the ground.

"That feeds new life."

She sees new life being born, from plants to animals to humans.

"Warm."

She then feels the warmth of the sun through the Force.

"Cold."

She then feels the cold from the water in parts of the city.

"Peace."

She then sees a mother cat raising her litter of kittens in peace.

"Violence."

She sees Anti-Skill fighting members of Skill Out.

"And between it all?" Theron whispers as he crouches next to her.

"Balance." She answers. "An energy. A Force."

"And inside you?"

Her friends keep listening as Misaka, Shirai, and Uiharu are in awe.

"Inside me..." She smiles. "That same Force."

"And this is the first lesson - that Force does not belong to the Jedi or anyone else. He lectures. "To say that if the Jedi die the light dies is vanity. Can you feel that?"

Suddenly, Saten feels something else.

"There's something else. Beneath the mountain." She explains with her eyes still closed. "A place. A dark place."

"Balance." He nods. "Powerful light, powerful darkness."

"It's cold..." She whispers, feeling the emptiness of it.

Theron then senses a disturbance and the ground starts shaking. He looks down and sees the ground cracking.

"It's calling me!" Saten says as her faces turns into fear, not even opening her eyes.

The small rocks start floating and the ground shakes even more.

"What's going on?!" Uiharu shouts in fear.

"I don't know!" Shirai says.

"Theron, what's happening with Saten?!" Misaka demands, starting to be afraid of what's happening around them and her friend.

"Resist it, Saten!" He warns her.

But she couldn't as she keeps being dragged to the dark place.

"Saten!" He yells at her but she still didn't hear him and he goes in front of her. "Saten!!!"

She opens her eyes again and gasps, her body shaking at what she felt. The girl looks around and sees that everything around her has cracks on the rocky ground. Thankfully, her friends aren't hurt.

"What the hell was that?!" She asks him, scared of what she just felt briefly. "I feel... cold. Emptiness."

"What you felt was the dark side of the Force. The opposite of the light." He explains. "It relies on negative emotions. Fear, anger, hate, suffering. The light relies on positive emotions. Serenity, joy, love."

"I-Is it evil?" She asks.

"No." He shakes his head. "It's how you use it, whether for good or bad intentions."

"Saten, are you okay?" Uiharu asks, worried for her friend as she, Misaka, and Shirai came up to her.

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Just shaken up a bit."

"You gave us a scare back there." Misaka says. "What was that you did back there?"

"Yeah, you definitely did some damage alright." Shirai agrees with her as she looks around the damage Saten did in her meditation state.

"I-I..." Saten hesitates but calms down. "I felt something called the dark side, and nearly got pulled in the process."

"The dark side?" The Teleporter wonders.

"Like Academy City's Dark Side?" Uiharu asks.

"Not that kind of dark side, Uiharu." The Level 0 shakes her head. "The dark side of the Force."

"Which is?" Misaka questions.

Saten briefly explains it at best she could. When she finished, her friends have mixed feelings about the Force. Misaka sees that the Force is life energy and the Jedi use it as power for good. Shirai and Uiharu, however, sees that the Force can be dangerous to use if one's not careful, especially if it involves the dark side, which made the three girls worry for Saten.

"Now that you have a taste of what the Force is, I need to know something from you."

"What is it, Theron?" Saten asks him.

"If I train you in the ways of the Force, there's no turning back. With the Empire knowing who I am, they'll soon be after me. And if you choose this path... they'll be after you, too. I won't force you in a fight that's not yours to begin with, but... I'm offering you a choice. One that the Jedi of old disregard in their code. You can walk away and forget about this... or I can teach you how to control and tap in your connection to the Force. To defend Earth from the Empire."

"Me?" She says. "I-I don't know. I've only discovered this power inside me and... I really don't know what I should use it for."

"I'll give you time to think on this." He says. "I don't want to take your choices away just as they have on others."

But before Saten could speak, a ringing tone is heard from Shirai's earpiece.

"Seriously?" Shirai groans in annoyance. "Just when things were about to get good."

"You should probably get that, Shirai." The Jedi says.

"You think?" Shirai rolls her eyes at him before answering her earpiece. "Yes? (silence for a few seconds) Really? She's requesting him to meet with her as well? Alright, we'll be right there."

"Who was that, Kuroko?" Misaka asks her.

"It's Konori. She wants the four of us along with her to meet with Yomikawa in School District 23."

"Is it about that ISD in the middle of the landing strips?" Uiharu guesses.

"Obviously." She shrugs. "And she wants to speak with Theron about it since he knows about them."

"Great." Theron sighs. "And given how the city news is taking it, everyone in Academy City are gonna ask questions about it."

"Not to mention the governing board is also preventing this sensitive news from getting out into the outside world." Shirai concludes.

"Well, let's hope Yomikawa hasn't done anything stupid to reveal my true identity to the whole city. I'm not a celebrity."

"What about me?" Saten asks.

"We'll discuss this later, Saten." He assures her. "Right now, we have to meet with Yomikawa about the crashed ISD. Take time to think on what your decision is."

Saten slowly nods, understanding. However, she's still unsure on what her answer should be.

**To be continued...**


	16. Act 2: Chapter 4

**Act 2: Chapter 4 - Spaceship Exploration**

**Academy City**

**School District 23**

**1000 Meters from Imperial Star Destroyer C****rash Site...**

"Damn it. How come I have to meet with the Jedi's friends? Especially with the Third-rate?"

Accelerator has been complaining for the past few hours as he is waiting alongside Yomikawa for Theron and his friends to arrive at the ISD crash site. The site is still being monitored by the woman's assigned unit as they're mission is to prevent people from leaking any forms of info out into the outside world to avoid mass panic about an alien invasion that recently happened. And under the board's orders, they needed to keep its citizens or visitors quiet about the strange object in the middle of School District 23.

"Because Mr. Chairman," She begins in a teasing manner. "Since you went behind my back on going into a hostile environment two days ago, you have to meet with Theron and the girls. Think of it as a small punishment, Accelerator. This is a good opportunity to make new friends."

Oh yes. Yomikawa was already aware of Accelerator as Academy City's unknown General Superintendent that succeeded Aleister Crowley last December. How, you ask? Let's just say that he got a huge lecture out from her and discovered his new occupation status. She didn't agree at first, but she understands and promises to keep it a secret as she is always concerned for the children's safety like him, especially since the two have a mother-son bond of sorts.

"Tch. I already have you, Last Order, Worst, and Yoshikawa." He stubbornly says. " The Third-rate I can understand and the fact we're somewhat friends. But I'm not involving her friends in any way possible. Plus, they don't know that a 17 year old boy is the secret governing chairman, so I'm trying to keep as many people as possible from ever finding out or shit might go down on all of us. _(thoughts) Then there's the fact that the damn Hero is going to butt in every problem he sees and punches his way through it._ God, what an idiot he is."

"Like it or not, it's a risk we have to take." She continues. "I may not like involving children, but they're determined - like you - to protect the ones closest to them."

"Tch. Yeah, yeah. I get it." He casually waves her off but stubbornly understands. "You don't have to rub it in on me, Yomikawa."

Just then, an Anti-Skill armored transport drives up to them and stops. From the back, the doors open, and Theron and the girls hop out of the back of truck.

"I could've taken a cab." Theron argues. "I'm not comfortable with being escorted by the military police."

"Yomikawa has a good reason for it." Konori says. "She's a good woman, and we've known her longer than you do."

"Fine." He says.

"What are you doing here?" Misaka asks Accelerator when she and the others notice the albino.

"Tch. What's it to you, Third-rate?" He answers, not wanting to tell her.

"Not with that attitude, Accelerator." She snorts.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Her friends asked together.

"Unfortunately." The Railgun sighs. "Guys, I want you to meet a friend of mine. You may know him as Accelerator."

"Huh?" Her friends (except Theron) blinked before they freaked out. "Huh?!"

Theron, however, is confused.

"Why are you so freaked out?" He asks.

Suddenly, Shirai grabs him by the collar and looks him in the eye.

"How can you not know about Accelerator?!" She screams at his face. "He's Academy City's strongest Esper and the 1st ranked Level 5!"

Theron turns his head at the Vector manipulator, who still has that bored expression on his face.

"You're a celebrity of sorts like Misaka?" Theron asks him casually.

"Yes. And it's attracted alot of annoying people like you and the Third-rate, Jedi." He casually answers him.

Just then, Misaka and Saten grab Theron out of Shirai's hands and look at him with shocked and angry faces.

"You know him, too?!" Misaka questions.

"You knew him but didn't tell Misaka and us about him?!" Saten angrily yells at him.

"I met him when the Empire started retreating off world." Theron explains as he pushes them off him. "Karabast, you're making it look like it's a big deal."

"Heh." Accelerator says with a ghost of a smile on his face at the Jedi's comeback. "He's not wrong there. Maybe you should learn a few things from him, Third-rate. Might help having a therapy session from him for once."

"Shut up!" Misaka yells at the unfazed albino.

"Wait a sec!" Uiharu gasps. "You're the guy that saved my life from Dark Matter last October!"

"Seriously?!" Saten asks in shock before bowing dramatically at him. "Thank you for saving my best friend. I don't know how I can repay you."

"You can repay me by not acting like a weirdo." The albino deadpans.

"That's not nice." Shirai comments rudely.

"Accelerator may not look much given his appearance and boring persona..." Misaka begins whiling adding insult to him with a smug grin.

"Hey!" Accelerator exclaims, offended by her words.

"...But he's not that bad of a person." Misaka continues with full honesty. "He just doesn't openly admit things, that's all."

"Oh?" Accelerator grins. "Like how you don't open up your feelings with that Hero?"

Misaka nearly trips and blushes madly.

"Q-Quiet you!" She stutters.

"Hero?" Her friends except Theron repeat, confused.

"Oh I see." Saten says with a sly grin. "You mean that boy you like so much."

"Says the girl who has a crush on Theron." Misaka retorts with a payback smirk, earning a mad blush from both the Force sensitive girl and the Jedi.

"N-No!" She denies outrightly. "It's not like that!"

"Oh Kriff, please no..." Theron pinches the bridge of his nose while gritting his teeth in annoyance and blushing in embarrassment.

"Ahem!"

The teens all turn to Yomikawa who said that.

"I appreciate that you're all getting along, but we should get down to business." She politely reminds them.

"Yes, that would be best." Theron agrees with her.

"Accelerator has told me about your former true identity, Theron." She informs. "Though you're a little young to be a peacekeeper."

"He told you?" The Jedi asks in shock and then looks at him.

"Yomikawa was suspicious about it, so I didn't have much choice but to tell her." Accelerator explains.

"Okay then." Theron shrugs. " Sorry about that, Yomikawa. The Empire considers the Jedi as fugitives and traitors, so I appreciate that you don't tell anyone else about it. Especially the governing board."

"Why do they think that way?"

"It's true, ma'am." Konori confirms, already up to speed with her friends. "What the Empire says about Theron or the rest of his fallen order is a lie to keep the Galaxy he's from enslaved."

"I understand." The woman nods, having experience with not endangering children. "I'll do what me and my men I can to not let that happen."

"Thank you." He smiles. "I appreciate your help in letting me stay here for the time being."

"Of course." She returns the smile. "Any friend of Misaka's or Accelerator's is a friend of mine."

"Acquaintance, Yomikawa." Accelerator glares annoyingly, in which she ignores his correction. "He and I aren't buddy buddy."

"However, the chairman already knows so you can trust him." She continues, to which Misaka perks up in shock.

_"Yomikawa knows that Accelerator is the Superintendent?" Misaka says in her head._

"If he's already aware of what's going on, then when can I meet him?"

Yomikawa looks at Accelerator at her side and smiles at him. He then takes a deep breath and sighs.

"Promise that you'll keep this between us?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He shrugs.

"Yeah! You can trust us!" Saten says.

Her friends nod, even though Misaka knows he's the Superintendent of Academy City.

"You just did." He simply says.

There was a moment of silence. Then Theron breaks it.

"What?" Theron asks.

"Eh?!" Misaka's friends shouted again in shock.

**...**

Theron leads the group to the wreck site of the Star Destroyer as Yomikawa explains that Academy City's scientists are curious on how the technology works so that they can defend the city from the Imperial invaders.

"You're scientists can do what they want with the tech inside the Destroyer," He says. "But on the condition that it's not used for self-interest or war on other countries. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to kill them myself."

"You don't need to worry." Yomikawa explains. "They're friends of mine and Yoshikawa. They prefer to use it for protection, not wage war on others. Last thing we need is starting a fourth World War. Three is enough already."

"Yeah, I know." He rolls his eyes. "It didn't bold well with everyone."

As they continue discussing up front, Misaka and Shirai are talking about the former already aware of Accelerator as the Superintendent of Academy City.

"Why didn't you tell us that you knew who the city's new Superintendent really is, Sissy?" Shirai angrily questions her without raising her voice.

"I'm sorry, guys. Really, I am." She apologizes. "But he made me promise to keep it a secret from everyone. He didn't want to put his his close ones in danger if everyone knew."

"Does that troglodyte know about this?" The Teleporter further questions with distrust in her voice due to having a grudge against a certain spiky haired boy.

"I told you, don't call him that!" Misaka lectures her before sighing. "But yeah, that idiot too."

"We understand, Misaka." Uiharu says with an understanding smile. "His secret is safe with us."

"Yeah." Saten agrees with a smile. "You're not in this alone, remember? We've got your back."

"Me too, Sissy." Shirai smiles as well.

"You can count on us." Konori gives a thumbs up to her with a reassuring smile.

"Thanks, you guys." Misaka smiles with relief.

"No problem." Saten says. "What are friends for?"

The girls then giggle together, having a friendly moment.

"Hey!" Accelerator interrupts them as the group walks. "If you're done with whatever the hell you're gossiping about, we're already here."

They immediately stopped walking as the group are in front of the wrecked ISD.

""Still can't believe that it's huge." Misaka mutters aloud.

"You've said it, Sissy." Shirai agrees.

"I take it that you haven't found a way inside? Even though the front is split in half to easily access the main hangar bay that's on the bottom part of the ISD." Theron guesses.

"You've guessed it, kid." Yomikawa confirms with a sigh. "The ship's hull is made of an alloy that doesn't match with all of Earth's known metals, so we couldn't make a dent on the outside. And like you've said about accessing the inside through the ship's hangar, our tools couldn't even bypass the only door that's sealed off completely."

"Figure you would say that." He mutters. "Not a problem for me. I know my way around one of those things. Well, only in schematics. Honestly, I've never been on an actual Imperial Star Destroyer before."

"What?!" The Railgang exclaims.

"That's surprising." Accelerator sarcastically comments.

"If you have experience with the Empire, how come you never even infiltrated one of their ships at all?" Shirai suspiciously questions him.

"Shirai!" Uiharu chastises at her friend's slight distrust in him.

"It's fine, Uiharu." Theron says before explaining. "After my master was killed, I was imprisoned on a mining world for a year. It gave me time to learn what I can about the Empire before I escaped three years earlier."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Yomikawa gives her condolence to him. "I bet he was a good man."

"He was." He sadly nods before changing the topic. "But enough of that. I'm going inside the ISD so that the scientists can have full access to the ship. (mutters) Just hope there aren't any Imperial probe droids spying on me this time."

"What?"

"Nothing." He shakes his head.

"I'm going with you." Accelerator says. "I want to see the inside of this so called Star Destroyer for myself."

"Fine. Anyone else?"

The girls raised their hands simultaneously, excited to see the inside of a spaceship for the first time. Mostly Saten since she's an urban legend hunter.

"Okay then." He shrugs.

"You kids go on ahead." Yomikawa says. "My men and I will remain here till everything inside is secure. Wouldn't want any unwanted surprises that's waiting now."

"Good idea. We'll let you know when we've reached the command deck."

"Race you inside, Theron." Saten grins before running off to inside the exposed hangar bay.

"Hey!" Theron runs after her in annoyance.

"Guys, wait up!" Uiharu chases the two after them.

"Come on, Sissy!" Shirai says with a smirk before teleporting short distances to inside.

"Right behind you, Kuroko." Misaka grins before running after her best friend.

"Don't go too far, you guys!" Konori shouts while running after them as well, leaving Accelerator behind.

The albino sighs.

"They sure are full of energy, aren't they?" He jokingly asks himself with a bored tone before taking his time walking after the others heading inside.

**...**

"Whoa!" The girls said in awe.

"Yeah, me too." Theron agrees with them.

The group are looking at the surroundings of the hangar bay. And honestly, they're impressed.

"It be more impressive if the ship wasn't god-damned slanted downward." Accelerator snorts.

"That's because Star Destroyers were meant to be built on shipyards in space, dipshit." The Jedi deadpans.

"No landing gear?" Konori asks.

"I thought ships have that kind." Uiharu recalls.

"No need for ISDs because they're a symbol of fear."

"Guess we know how the Empire quickly took over other worlds." Misaka rolls her eyes.

"But how are we going to get in? Besides, this hangar bay looks empty." Shirai asks as they noticed that nothing's here.

Theron takes out a hydrospanner and walks up to the sealed off blast doors.

He notices a control panel on the side and plants the tool inside the socket hole to override the controls and manually opens the doors as they slide open.

"Does that answer your question?" He rhetorically asks as he enters the dark corridors of the cruiser.

Everyone except for Accelerator had surprised looks. He used some space screwdriver to hack the door open. Not wanting to be left behind, they quickly follow him deep inside the ship.

**...**

"I can't see a thing." Misaka says aloud.

"We could use our phones' flashlights." Saten suggests.

"No need." Theron assures as he takes out his lightsaber, igniting his blade as it illuminates a sapphire blue light on everyone in the dark.

The girls are shocked at the badass looking weapon he's holding.

"Oh yeah! I forgot you have that laser sword against the Empire!" Saten beams with excitement.

"It's a lightsaber, a Jedi's weapon." He explains. "It's blade is made of plasma and can cut through almost anything. And it even deflects blaster fire, and doubles as a illuminating torchlight."

"So it's a glow stick." Accelerator jokes the weapon but is impressed by the Jedi's weapon.

The girls snicker at his joke.

"A glow stick? That sounds so much better than a 'lightsaber'." Shirai sarcastically comments as she snickers.

"Interesting." Misaka looks on with an impressed expression. "So it's not hardlight, then."

"Lightsaber." He corrects them, offended by Accelerator's joke again. "It's not wise insulting a Jedi. Otherwise you'd lose more than just a limb."

"Tch. Try me. I can just reflect it back at you." Accelerator arrogantly snorts at him.

"Don't test me, Accelerator. Your arrogance would be your undoing." The Jedi warns him before continuing on ahead. "Let's keep moving."

**...**

It took the group awhile to reach the command deck due to a few turbolifts on different floors they had to take and go a few at a time. A flaw in the large ship's design.

Eventually, they made it to the doors of the command deck and Theron uses the Force to slide the doors open before deactivating his lightsaber as everyone walks around inside.

"So this is the command deck, huh?" Misaka wonders. "Looks a bit spacious."

"This is so cool!" Saten fangirls as she takes out her phone and prepares to take a few snapshots but was stopped by Theron.

"No pictures, Saten." He lectures. "We're trying to make sure the outside world doesn't find out, not the other way around."

The girl sheepishly chuckles in embarrassment as she scratches the back of her head.

Theron goes on to explain the bridge's functions such as the two opposite holes separated by a walkway to the bridge's triangular patterned viewport (windows). He even showed them a circular holo communications table that's between the the command deck and the hallways behind the table.

"Yomikawa," He contacts the woman from Anti-Skill. "We've secured the command deck, but no sign of any hostiles. They must've cleared out of what's left on this ISD when I pulled it out of the sky."

"Alright," She responds through his comm link. "We'll take care of the rest. You kids get out of there now."

"Understood." He answers before ending the call.

"So were done here, right?" Accelerator questions. "About damn time. I need a coffee right now."

"You guys go on ahead." The Jedi says as he starts leaving the command deck.

"Where are you going?" Misaka suspiciously questions.

"Down to the reactor room." He answers. "There's something I need to find."

Uiharu then whispers into Saten's ear with a smirk.

"Go with him. See if you can ask him to come along to the festival."

Saten blushes and nervously gulps before walking up to him.

"Is it okay if I tag along with you?" She asks.

"Sure." He smiles. "Could use a bit of company since R4 is back at my place."

The two then leave the others and enter a turbolift before Uiharu calls out to them.

"Good luck being together!"

The two blushed as the door closes on them, taking them to the floor where they'll reach the reactor room.

"Those two are so flustered. Nice job, Uiharu." Shirai smirks.

"I aim to please." She smirks with pride.

**...**

The elevator reaches the floor and the two teens exit the lift as they walk towards a single door that's sealed shut with Theron's lightsaber illuminating the halls with light.

"Well that's just great." Saten sarcastically rants. "No way in without power to the door. There's barely enough power down here."

She has a point, considering the black cords dangling from the ceilings and glass fragments scattered all over the floor.

Theron then stabs through the side of the actual door and slices around it before it falls flat on the floor inside the room.

"You were saying?" He gloats with a smug expression as he let's her inside first.

He puts away his weapon and follows her inside.

"Wow..." She says in awe. "It's huge."

"Let's be careful in here." He warns. "We don't want to tamper with anything but the material I need."

She nods as they walk across the walkway. Though, she wonders why there aren't any rails on the sides.

"Ah, that must be it." He says.

He notices a canister that's still intact and carefully picks it up, carrying it on his shoulder.

"What's that?" She curiously asks.

"Coaxium." He answers. "Fuel for a ship's hyperdrive."

"Hyperdrive? Is that how you and the Empire got here?"

"Yeah. Faster than light travel. It's what brought the Galaxy together to form the Old Republic and its trading routes." He explains.

"The Old Republic?"

"The Galactic Republic's predecessor."

"That's... confusing."

"I know." He nods. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Right." She agrees as they make their way back outside. "Hey, how dangerous is Coaxium?"

"It's highly explosive, so I need to be careful to not drop this canister or it'll explode and bring down the entire ship we're on."

Her face pales again.

"Something wrong?"

"No!" She answers. "It's nothing! Just a bit shocked that's all."

He looks at her with suspicious in his eyes but simply shrugs, not caring what it is.

**...**

Later outside, Theron and Saten see the group. However, Accelerator has already went home, not wanting to stick around to chat.

"I'm heading back to my place." He informs the girl by his side. "See ya later, Saten."

"Wait!" She shouts to him, who stops to listen.

"Hm?"

"There's a festival coming up in three days, and... well... do you want to come to the festival with us?" Saten shyly asks as her cheeks turn red.

Theron is surprised. She's asking him out to go with the others.

"Uh... Yeah!" He answers. "Sure. When is it?"

"August 2nd. In the morning."

"Cool. Can't wait." He nods before turning around and walking away. "See ya there!"

After he left, Saten turns around and pumps her fist in the air, victorious.

_"Woohoo!" Saten exclaims in her thoughts. "Way to go Ruiko! Now he's beginning to opem up to me. But... why is my heart beating so fast?"_

She places a hand on her chest, feeling it.

Oh, if only she knew.

**To be continued...**


	17. Act 2: Chapter 5

**Act 2: Chapter 5 - Departure**

"Did you find what you were looking for?" R4 beeps when Theron returned home in the afternoon.

"Yes." The boy nods. "Though, I think it's best if our friends don't know about the list of coordinates I found when they weren't looking."

"That's not a good way to earn their trust." The astromech grumbles sarcastically.

"I know, but they've never been to other worlds like we have with my master."

"True. However, I doubt that they'd be too happy with what you're doing right now with that Coaxium fuel we need for the Jedi interceptor."

"Then let them be angry with me. It's my burden to journey the ends of a galaxy if I have to." Theron says, not caring about being questioned about his methods.

Theron inserts the data card into his droid as R4 brings up a hologram of the entire Milky Way galaxy with listed known Imperial occupied worlds, including others ruled over by a second galactic power he's never heard of before.

"It's the entire Milky Way." He deduces in awe. "Looks like there aren't alot of Imperial presence in this galaxy. Seems that they're in a trade alliance with another galactic power I don't recognize. No wonder the Empire's desperate for more star systems and resources."

"We'll need more intel if we're to know what's going on."

"Agreed. So what worlds are there?"

"Well for the Imperials, they're capital planet would be the barren rocky wastelands of Driox." R4 begins as he analyzes the star charts. "Heavily fortified, and protected by a planetary deflector shield along with a large armada of ISDs. I suggest we stay away from heavy Imperial presence for the time being."

"Traveling to planets with weaker Imperial presence may be best for us." He agrees with him. "Gives us an advantage in laying low."

"Indeed." R4 whistles before continuing on. "Next up, we have the neutral systems. Let's see here. There's mentions of worlds similar to Earth due to no contact with others, either they're primitive or they haven't thought of colonizing with advanced tech to travel beyond their star system."

"Any mentions of worlds controlled by crime syndicates? Like the Hutts, the Pykes, or the Black Sun?"

"Neither of those three criminal factions." R4 shakes his dome. "However, their presence is high enough to be under the Empire's payroll."

"And the neutral worlds?"

"They're scattered all over the Milky Way's Outer Rim. Some of them are allies to another galactic power that's been around for over three thousand years."

"Three thousand?" He repeats as he reads the different names of the planets on the map. "Any more info on them since they're in a peace accord with the Empire?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that." The droid beeps disappointingly. "There's still not enough data on this star map."

"Great. So the data's corrupted." He deduces. "Looks like we don't have any other options, do we?"

His droid could only whistle in agreement.

**...**

**Japanese Countryside (Outside of Academy City)**

**2 hours later...**

"Did we really have to sneak out of the city?" R4 complains.

The duo are using a modified speeder bike - with the droid in the back meant for the latter - as they have finally arrived in their first home within the forest. Getting off of the bike they're next to a wooden cabin Theron built and a hangar large enough to house a Corellian space freighter or a starfighter.

"Like hell I'm gonna go through security again." Theron rolls his eyes.

Entering the garage, they see the Jedi fighter with tools scattered on a workbench by the wall.

"So when can we leave?" R4 asks. "I miss traveling in space."

"Soon." He answers as he hands the canister to the droid. "See if you can install the Coaxium in the fuel line."

"Got it. It shouldn't take long." R4 obeys as he begins working on the ship. "You know, we really need to look for a bigger ship. I have a feeling that we're going to need more supplies since Earth has none of these things."

"Yeah, we definitely need a new ship." He admits as he sits on a bed in case he decides to sleep in the garage to work on his ship or weapons. "Wake me when it's finished."

He yawns as he removes his cloak and leather jacket before falling asleep so quickly.

R4 grumbles to himself in amusement before going back to what he's working on.

"He always was a heavy sleeper."

**...**Nightfall had already came and R4 had just finished installing the Coaxium.

"Hey, meatbag." R4 beeps by Theron's bedside.

He turns on his side toward R4 and talks in his sleep.

"Yes... Yes... die, you little vermin..." He says in his sleep with a creepy giggle.

R4 was a little freaked out at what he's saying in his sleep. Fortunately, the droid then wakes him up by electrocuting him in the face. Theron jolts awake at the unexpected pain and fell onto the floor.

"The hell?!" Theron angrily yells at R4 as he holds his stung face.

R4 laughs.

"Sorry, sorry. But I just wanted to let you know that I've finished installing it."

**[Goodbye, Old Friend (Film Mix, Part 2) - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith OST plays]**

"Huh?" He looks up. "Already? Wait, how long was I asleep?"

"About half an hour."

"Oh." Theron says as he gets off the floor. "So we're good to go?"

"Yep."

"Alright then." The Jedi says as he puts on his jacket and cloak. "Let's get going."

Gathering what he needs to bring along, Theron packs it all inside the ship and hops inside, closing the cockpit. R4 hops inside the ship's droid socket and the small fighter takes off out of the hangar.

The ship exits Earth's orbit and docks with the hyperspace ring that Theron calls for. The six thruster docking ring starts up and the ship instantaneously jumps into hyperspace, leaving Earth and the Sol system.

**To be continued...**


	18. Act 2: Chapter 6

**Act 2: Chapter 6 - ****Welcome to Argos**

**July 31, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**Nimbus System**

**Argos**

The Jedi starfighter jumps out of hyperspace after an entire night of traveling, revealing a brown colored planet with tiny green spots that's most likely plant life. The planet is being orbited by its two moons and the former orbits a single sun.

_"_Argos." Theron reads aloud on the fighter's navicomputer. "A terrestrial desert planet with few plant life and small lakes."

"My upgraded scanners reads that the planet's too dangerous to explore whenever dust storms occur unpredictably, so there's no telling when one will show up."

"Dangerous to land but risky to fly out of one, huh?" Theron sarcastically asks. "I'll take what I can get."

The ship ejects from the hyperspace docking ring and flies through Argos's atmosphere. Theron looks left and right to see that the planet is like a cross between Tatooine and Ryloth, even though they're both desert worlds with terrestrial environments.

"There's a small settlement up ahead." R4 points out.

"Let's land in the outskirts. Best if we avoid questionable eyes." Theron orders.

Finally, the small fighter lands on a flat, but rocky terrain and Theron climbs out of the cockpit.

"Stay with the ship." He says and puts up his hood and covers his face with a brown neck scarf that's used as a mask. "I won't be long."

"Be careful." R4 warns him.

"I always am." The Jedi assures before taking a long hike down a small mountainside.

Theron hops onto a slope and crouches as he slides down the mountainside. He notices a large gap and jumps over as he slided close to the edge. Landing on the other side, he turns his body to the left and then to the right to avoid large rocks. Then he jumps over another gap and Force pushes the dead end apart, creating a new path down the mountainside. He notices another gap that's huge and realizes he can't make that jump. Seeing a few rock walls, the Jedi jumps onto one and free runs on it before wall jumping and running to another and another before jumping off the last wall and perform a double flip, and land on his feet without any injury.

"Still got it." Theron pridefully says before getting up and jog to the end of the trail.

When he reaches the end, he finally sees the settlement that's now much closer to him.

**...**

Theron walks the streets of the small town as a few starships take off elsewhere. He then notices the people around him. Most of them are human while some are a few familiar members from different alien species that includes a male Ithorian and a female Mirialan.

_"Looks like I'm getting deja Vu around here." Theron observes his surroundings as he continues walking. "Seems like there's a few shops that I should look into later. Right now, I haven't ate anything on way here. I just need to find a lodging with food."_Theron walks past something and takes a few steps back to see what he saw. The building has a dome shaped roof and is only a single floor building and a circular shutter blast door. It doesn't have advertising neon signs, so who gives a damn anyway?

He then checks his pouches with his glove covered hands and takes out a pouch full of credit chips.

_"50,000." He counted. "Enough to buy a new ship or supplies."_

He sighs and shakes his head.

"I'll figure it out later. I'm starving."

He heads on inside as the door opens up. Looking around he sees a few people settling down in their seats, eating or drinking. He then notices a counter with the inn's owner cleaning the inside of a large pint.

Theron pulls down his scarf over his face, and walks up to the counter and sits on one of the stools. The owner turns around when he hears the sound of credit chips clatter on the metal counter.

"Looking to rent a room down the hall?" The owner asks.

Theron got a good look at him and sees that he's Ithorian with a device around his neck to communicate with people that don't understand him.

"No." The Jedi answers. "Just food and some water. Sorry that these are Imperial credits. It's all I have."

"That's quite alright." The Ithorian assures him as he takes the credits off the counter. "We normally get a few Imperial citizens or troops whenever they come to stay for the night and move on. Thankfully, this planet's neutral so we either take Imperial or Republic credits."

Theron perks up when the owner mentions that word.

"The Republic?"

"Oh. It seems you must be new around here." He deduces.

"What can you tell me about the Empire and the Republic in the Milky Way galaxy?" Theron asks.

"That's an easy question." The Ithorian nods. "By the way, what would you like to order?"

"Surprise me." The Jedi smirks.

"Very well. I'll be back with your order." He says after handing him some water in a cup and heads into the kitchen to let his employees know that they have a customer.

Theron patiently waits for a few minutes and the owner comes out of the kitchen with a big bowl of space ramen noodles with Ithorian sauce (oyster sauce, but named after their species) and a few veggies on top.

"Here you are." He serves the meal to him. "Now as for your question..."

Theron spents a few minutes listening to the owner giving the backstories of both the Empire and the Republic in the Milky Way, while he eats his breakfast at the same time:

_'Five thousand years ago, a few years after the fall of the Immortal Emperor Valkorian, the Old Republic sent an expedition fleet out into the Unknown Regions of the old Galaxy where they accidentally were swallowed up by a wormhole that sent them into a different universe and galaxy. Wanting to know more about the Milky Way, the Old Republic scouted out worlds to settle on. But then, they discovered that most of the Milky Way has no sentient life (except they don't know about Earth or other Earth like worlds) so they established their government in the new galaxy after realizing that there's no way back to their ancestral one._

_For over two and a half thousand years, the Milky Way was at peace with the help of a small group of Jedi led by a descendant of Revan. That is until remnants of the Sith Empire (when they faced extinction back in the old Galaxy during the final days of the Jedi-Sith war) discovered this new reality and waged war against the Old Republic for a mere decade in order to conquer it and survive (After spending a century establishing Sith Temples and small outpost on worlds strong with the datk side) However, their survival was short lived and the small remnants of the Sith Empire were wiped out by the Jedi, finally restoring peace to the Milky Way._

_Not long after that, the politics came into play once more, and the Jedi begin to become corrupted and dogmatic. Realizing that the Jedi were directly and indirectly responsible for the creation of the Sith, the Jedi Order of the Milky Way permanently disbanded, abandoning the few temples they built and resided in for so long. Eventually, the Jedi became nothing but ancient history and most people throughout the Milky Way galaxy have forgotten of their existence._

_2,500 years went on and the Republic continued to rely more on themselves than rely on the Jedi that they once have before. With the Jedi gone from this galaxy, a new Order of Force users wielding orange and yellow blades rose to power with the purpose to protect the galaxy not as peacekeepers, but as warriors to help the Republic and its neutral allies. They call themselves the Eternals, a small order of knights inspired by the Immortal Emperor's Knights of Zakuul. Today, they're agenda remained the same and the Galaxy continue to be at peace._

_Then about three decades ago, the Republic came into contact with the Galactic Empire, and negotiated peace talks with them. Surprisingly, the Empire proposed a trading alliance in exchange of each other's history. From what the Republic and the neutral systems know, is that the Empire came from the old Galaxy when their Emperor Palpatine sent a small fleet into the Unknown Regions to expand the growing infant galactic power. After arriving into the Milky Way by accident, the Empire did what the Republic had done long ago and flourished for three centuries before coming into contact with the Republic.'_

Theron was left unsettled when the Innkeeper finished his story.

_"So the Empire decided to withhold information and lie to everyone in this galaxy." Theron deduces in his thoughts after finishing his breakfast. "No surprise, given their track record to use others as a means to an end and later backstab them."_

Before he can speculate further, the door behind him opens up and a bystander runs in, all out of breath.

"They're coming!" He pants, trying to catch his breath. "The bandits are coming!"

_"Annnnnd I lost my train of thought." Theron facepalms at the poor timing._

Everyone but Theron all got up and went to either hide in their rooms or own homes, or help defend the town from another bandit incursion.

"Great." The Innkeeper grumbles in annoyance.

"The hell's going here?" Theron asks as he see people in the inn clear out or hide.

"Don't know, kid." He answers as he puts down the cleaned mug. "I guess we're about to find out. Come on."

Theron gets up and follows the Innkeeper outside, blaster ready in his holster.

**To be continued...**


	19. Act 2: Chapter 7

**Act 2: Chapter 7 - ****Bounty Hunting Team up**

The bandits arrive in their speeder bikes. They are Weequay, a common species with speciality in committing piracy or any other criminal offenses. At the edge of the town, the bandits have their blasters trained on the people that chose to train their own rifles back at them in self defense.

"The payment's due, sleemos!" The bandit leader announces, blaster in his hand. "I suggest you hand over the credits without trying anything stupid like last time."

"Kriff off, scum!" One of the townsfolk with a rifle shouts.

"Hold your fire!" The Innkeeper orders his fellow townspeople as he with Theron not far behind run up between them and the bandits.

"Well, if it isn't the Ithorian." The leader snorts. "About time you showed up so we can 'negotiate'."

"My ass." The Ithorian scoffs. "That's what you said last time when you took most of our money and killed three of our own."

"Now listen here, you old man." The Weequay begins as he gets off his bike and stands in front of the old Ithorian. "You are this town made a deal to hand over monthly payments to us in exchange for not burning this place to the ground. Those were you're exact words, right? So why. The hell. Are you refusing to go along quietly like civilized people?!"

"Hey!" Theron interrupts him. "Back off!"

"Oi!" One of the bandits shouted, now his blaster trained on him. "Wha you on about?"

The bandits minus their leader have their blasters trained on him as the Jedi train his blaster pistol on them as well.

"Lower your blaster, boy." The leader orders.

"Tell them to lower theirs first." Theron calmly says back.

"We have you four to one!" Another bandit points out.

"I like those odds." The Jedi rebuttals with a badass one liner.

Surprisingly, the leader hand signals his bandits to lower their weapons and turns his face back to him as he pushes the Innkeeper aside, now standing before the boy who is 5 feet and 9 inches tall.

"You have some guts, kid." He says. "Why don't you come join me and my boys here. We could use someone like you, given the attire you're wearing."

"No thanks." Theron refuses, still not taking his eyes off of the Weequay leader. "I don't need to work with a bunch of common thugs that are in it for themselves and the money. Even if it means killing innocents that worked hard on this land. If I were you, I'd leave and never show your faces here again."

The Weequay spits on the sandy ground and turns away from Theron.

"Boy..." He sighs. "You just signed over your funeral."

The leader whistles loudly and orders his men to retreat.

"This will be your first and final warning!" He shouts to the whole town as he hops back onto his bike. "Hand over the money, or there will be hell to pay."

The bandits then turn their speeders around and drive into the distance away from the town. The townspeople lowered their weapons and everyone goes about their business.

"Where did you learn to do that?" The Innkeeper asks the boy.

"Just making it up as I go." Theron answers without looking at him as he watches the bandits be further away from them.

"I meant your voice." He clarifies.

Theron looks at him.

"Ventriloquism." The Jedi truthfully answers. "Comes in handy when you don't sound like a kid. I've always use this voice without changing it back to my old one."

"You're smarter than you look." He nods in understanding. "But I'm afraid you've just made things a little worse since you threatened them to leave us alone. Now, our town has to face the wrath of these thugs since we don't have money to pay them."

"I'll get rid of your bandit problem."

The Ithorian turns him in shock.

"Why?" He asks. "What reason do you have with them?"

"Does it matter?" The Jedi rhetorically questions.

The Innkeeper sighs.

"If you plan to follow them back to their camp, you'll need ground transportation." He advises as he shows him a few speeder bikes parked in place. "They're most likely up north, just over that ridge."

"Thanks." Theron says as he hops onto a speeder bike and revs up the engine before taking off to follow them.

It's a good thing he planted a tracker on their leader while he wasn't looking. These people has enough being robbed of their money for once.

"Kid sure is full of himself." The Ithorian mutters to himself before heading back to his inn.

**...**

It was about an hour by speeder to reach the camp that's north away from the settlement. If it was by foot, it be about six to seven hours.

Anyways, our hero manages to park by a cliff and crawls on the sandy ground till he reaches the edge of the cliff. Taking out his binocs, Theron sees that the camp below is just a small abandoned compound that's overrun by around fifty Weequay bandits. They seem to be enjoying themselves with drinking, gambling, cleaning their blasters, tuning their bikes, and so on.

_"Probably best if I just bombard the place with my ship." Theron thinks._

However, something else catches his eye and he sees a bipedal droid walking up to the bandits' camp with blasters ready.

"Oh no." He mutters. "Bounty droid."

**...**

This is not any run of the mill, bipedal bounty droid. It's approximately six feet tall with a worn out rusted orange paint job and yellow orange eyes.

"Statement: I have finally caught up with you, meatbags! Prepare to face the might of my fully charged blasters!"

The bandits turned their faces toward him and are in fear and shock.

"Poodoo, it's that assassin droid!" One of them shouts as he prepares to shoot him but the droid quickdraws, instantly killing him.

Then a brief shootout takes place as the droid dual wields both blasters in his hands and kills as many of them. Unfortunately, they all hid immediately from him and the leader runs in to hide inside the building and seals the blast doors tight.

**...**

Theron sighs in amusement and a bit annoyance, now that the droid ruined everything the former was about to do.

"Droids." He simply says before getting of the ground and makes his way down to meet up with them.

He managed to get a closer look at the appearance of the droid, surprising him once again.

_"That was no ordinary droid. That was an HK assassination droid." He deduces. "But they shouldn't even exist anymore from where I was from."_

After reaching the camp, Theron steps behind the HK droid.

"HK unit, stand dow-!"

The droid quickly turns around and shoots him in the shoulder. Theron yelps as he jumps and crash into a few barrels behind him.

"Commentary: Think twice before sneaking up on me, meatbag."

"Ow!" He exclaims in slight pain. Thankfully, the jacket and cloak are burnt and tear proof. He then gets up again. "I'm not with those thugs!"

"Observation: I thought I was the only one that's after them."

"Yeah, that makes two of us." The Jedi rolls his eyes before muttering. "So much for the element of surprise."

"What?"

"Nothing. What's your designation number, anyway?"

"Answer: My designation number is HK-47. Yes. THE HK-47. At least, a copy of the original."

"I thought HK-47 was trashed a long time ago."

"Explanation: That is true, but beyond that I do not know."

"Great." Theron facepalms. "So what's a droid like you even doing here?"

"Explanation: I've been hired by a settlement to eliminate these meatbags a few days ago, and have been rewarded with a few modifications to my own body. If I were to fulfill this job, I would be handsomely rewarded."

"I have a suggestion."

"Proceed."

"We split the reward."

"Answer: This is acceptable."

"Great. Now let's regroup, out of harm's way, and form a plan."

And right on cue, the bandits come out of hiding and begin opening fire on them.

"Alert! Alert!" HK-47 says aloud.

Theron quickdraws his blaster out and shoots one of the bandits, killing him before his corpse fell off the roof. The shootout has begun once again.

Knowing that they need to take cover, the two make their way to the sealed blast doors while taking out as many of these Weequay bandits as possible. HK, meanwhile, was starting to show off his badass shooting skills, slightly annoying the Jedi.

"Up top!" Theron shouts.

HK complies with shooting above without looking up as he keeps moving with him, thus revealing a dead bandit falling on the ground from behind the assassin droid.

The two finally reached the door and hid behind each opposite support pillars. The fight was starting to get worse for them as more bandits started to corner them with blaster fire.

"Statement: It appears we are trapped. I will initiate self-destruct sequencing."

The droid's chest opens up to reveal a thermal detonator strong enough to level the entire camp. This panicked Theron.

"Whoa! You're what?!" Theron exclaims.

"Explanation: My own independent programming dictates that I cannot be captured! I must self-destruct!"

"Do not self-destruct!" The Jedi advises against HK's suicidal attempt. "Cover me! If we can take out their leader that's cowardly hiding inside, the bandits might scatter without knowing what to do!"

"Agreed!" HK agrees as he cover fires for Theron.

Theron attempts to hotwire the door but keeps almost getting shot at, forcing him to hide behind cover again, this time with HK close to him.

"There's too many!" Theron shouts as they're outnumbered and outgunned.

Even if Theron could use his lightsaber and the Force to easily dispatch the bandits, he'd risk bringing in the attention of an Inquisitor or a Sith Lord. Either way, it's a lose-lose for him.

"Suggestion: I will initiate self-destruct."

"Do not self-destruct! We're shooting our way out!" Theron advises again as they should just retreat instead.

The two got out of their cover and aimed their weapons at them, only to find that a repulsor lift mounted mini gun waiting for the duo.

"Okay." Theron's eyes widen before they hid behind the pillar again.

The bandit on the turret open fires rapidly at the pillar, tearing it apart.

"New plan!" Theron shouts, knowing that their low on options and time.

"Beginning self-destruct countdown!" HK suggests for the third time.

"No, stop it!" Theron orders, now more annoyed with HK wanting to blow up and get himself and the Jedi killed to take out a small army of thugs.

Then, an idea finally came to him.

"Keep that heavy gun busy, so I can take it out! Go!"

HK nods and runs out of cover to draw it's fire on him and he gets shot down. However, seeing an opening, Theron Force pulls the turret away from the bandit and kills him with blaster headshot. Theron then holsters and hops on it, mowing down all of the remaining bandits with a barrage as the turret does a 360 degree spin.

And thus, the battle finally ends with so many bodies scattered everywhere.

"Conclusion: Very well. I will deactivate self-destruct initiative." HK announces as he closes his opened chest.

Theron sighs in relief and walks up to him, and pulls him up on his feet again.

"You know, you're not half bad. For an assassin droid." He admits. "That was awesome for what you did earlier, but are you sure you're alright?"

"Answer: Yes. It will take more than just a barrage of blaster bolts to take me out for good."

Theron chuckles.

"Question: What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing." He says, settling down a bit before getting serious yet again. "Come on. There's one more that needs taking out."

**...**

Inside the empty building, blaster fire from the turret starts leaving holes on the sides of the doors before it stops and the doors drop flat on the floor revealing the silhouettes of the Jedi and the droid.

The two stepped inside and look to see that it's quiet. Too quiet.

Then, the bandit leader pops out of nowhere, ready to fire. But Theron shoots him first in the heart, killing him.

"Anyone else?" Theron asks aloud, willing to take on who would try to surprise attack him so pathetically.

Then, Theron walks to the leader's corpse and kicks it to see if he's dead for real.

"Good." Theron comments and notices the semi blaster rifle and picks it up, inspecting it before placing it behind his back with the rifle's shoulder strap. "Finders keepers."

"Yes, indeed." HK agrees with him.

Suddenly, Theron notices an egg-shaped capsule hovering in the corner and walks over to it.

"Why was their leader protecting this, and for what?"

Curious, Theron opens the top up with a push of a button, revealing a blanket in it. However, that's not what it's inside the capsule.

"Wait..." He says, as his eyes widen. "Tell me I'm not seeing things."

"Statement: You are not. It appears to be fifty years old by my analysis."

"Fifty?" He questions, confused.

"Species do age differently, after all."

A pair of three fingered hands pulls down the blanket to reveal its appearance. It is a small green humanoid infant with big brown eyes and big cute pointy ears wearing a brown clothing.

The infant child cooes as it is curious about the Jedi and the droid, but mainly the Jedi.

"Holy shit." Theron mutters in shock. "It's like a baby version of Master Yoda."

"Question: What do we with the infant?" HK asks.

Theron snaps out of it and looks at him.

"No idea. Better contact R4."

Theron attempts to contact him but there's static.

"Comms not working."

"That's mainly because of an incoming dust storm." HK deadpans.

"Huh?" Theron aska before dashing outside along with HK.

The two see a dust storm coming their way.

"Damn, it's headed right for us." Theron curses before facepalming. _"Way to go, Theron. You had to destroy the only door that you could've sealed off from the storm."_

"Suggestion: There is a room we can hold up inside till the storm passes this afternoon."

"Way ahead of you, HK." Theron nods.

The two head back inside and Theron escorts the hovering crib inside another room with HK, who then closes the door and locks it.

"I will close down to recharge." HK informs as he sits in a sofa chair.

"Yeah, go ahead." Theron nods as the droid powers down. "I'll keep watch."

Theron turns his attention back at the infant who continues to curiously gaze at him. Theron outstretches his arm and points a finger at it as the infant then reaches out to grab it.

**To be continued...**


	20. Act 2: Chapter 8

**Act 2: Chapter 8 - The Child (Part 1)**

**Back on Earth...**

Familiar feminine feet touches the water in the bath tub and the naked girl (her cute butt cheeks shown) lowers herself into the warm water.

Ruiko Saten is enjoying her morning bath as she relaxes in the soothing water, smiling.

"Ahhh. A nice bath before the start of the day." Saten comments aloud in her bathroom. "Just the way I like it."

It has been almost a week since she and her friends have met Theron. Normally, the friendship bonding takes some time to building up. But on the other hand, both Saten and Theron quickly became friends like the whole shenanigan with the Empire never happened. And with her discovering about being Force sensitive, the urban legend hunter no longer needs to worry about being powerless. She might not be an Esper and will forever be a Level 0, but at least she has power and can do some good with it.

This got Saten giggling with excitement of having a power again since the Level Upper. However, she is left unsure about Theron's proposition in training her. She's excited but at the same time, scared. If she accepts, then there's no backing out and the Empire will come after her with the possiblity of becoming their slave. No. She won't let that happen to herself. She'll never be their slave. She'll use the Force to protect her home, friends, family, and even Theron.

Saten gasps as her face turns red, now all flustered.

"W-Why am I thinking of his name that way?!" She asks herself aloud while covering her face. "I don't want to think something so lewd and perverted when I'm around him! I'm not THAT shameless!"

She then perks her head up with curiosity, no longer blushing for now.

"Speaking of him, I wonder what he's doing right now?" She wonders with a finger on her chin, immediately changing the subject.

Yep. Saten has clearly changed the subject. Not sure how Uiharu tolerates this kind of thing from her best friend.

**...**

**Argos**

As the dust storm continues passing through the old building, Theron is just cleaning his own blaster pistol to pass up the time. Meanwhile, the droid has finished recharging and took the Jedi's place to keep watch so that the latter can prepare his weapons before they move out.

As for the child, the fifty-year-old infant looks on at Theron with curiosity in his mind. It senses the teen's conflicted thoughts without the latter even realizing it and the former also senses hidden wounds. The child climbs out of the crib and walks up to his side. It then reaches out with its hand to him.

Theron notices the child as the latter begins closing its eyes, readying to do something. However, Theron quickly stops the child and picks it up in his hands before putting it back in its crib.

The Jedi then goes back to sitting down by the wall and checks his new rifle again. Then, he hears cooing from the child and looks to see it next to him again, trying to reach out to Theron.

He sighs and picks the child up and puts it back in the crib. The child looks up at him with those innocent eyes and tilts its head, wondering what he's doing next.

Surprisingly, Theron closes the top hatch of the crib and the teen turns around toward HK-47.

"Hey. Has the storm passed?" Theron asks the droid.

"Answer: Yes. It's best to head back to the town to receive payment for our work."

"Alright, you find us a landspeeder. We have to bring this thing along."

"As you wish." The droid complies as he leaves the room.

Theron then contacts R4 and his astro droid picks up. Theron explains what he's been doing and tells him meet him at the edge of the north ridge.

Theron then programs the crib to follow him and he heads outside of the building.

"I thought I told you to find us a landspeeder."

"Explanation: I did. Unfortunately, you must've accidentally took out its engines with that turret you hijacked earlier."

Theron sighs frustratingly at his own stupidity.

"Damn it. I guess were walking then."

"But sir, we could take the speeder bike."

"We can't carry a child on a bike." Theron argues. "Too risky. I'll go on foot. You take the bike, and go on ahead. I'll meet at the inn."

The droid doesn't say a word and hops ontp the bike before speeding away. Theron looks to his side to see the crib and opens the top for the child to see what's going on.

He sighs to himself and wonders what he's gotten into.

**...**

A few minutes later, Theron reaches his rendezvous point at the north ridge's border. But when he climbs up the last hill looking over the horizon with the child in tow, Theron sees something that he literally despises for good reason as they are towing his ship and astromech into their huge sand crawler.

"Fucking Jawas..." He mutters in disgust and complete annoyance, now already use to cussing in Earth words for three years.

The one rule you shouldn't break about being friends with Theron is that you should NEVER steal from him. EVER.

Knowing that R4 is his best friend and only ride to take him off world is being stolen, Theron crouches down and takes out his rifle before looking into the scope, aiming at one of the Jawas.

This was no ordinary blaster rifle he's holding in his hands. When he pulled the trigger, Theron fires a yellow blast at the Jawa from a distance, disintegrating the little thief with only its cloak remaining.

The child looks on with curiosity as its ears dropped down and its eyes widened in a cute innocent way.

As for the Jawas, they started screaming and beginning running back to their sand crawler. Theron creepily grins in satisfaction as he disintegrates another one and another.

_"Die, you rats!" Theron shouts in his head while laughing._

He sees another Jawa randomly shooting its ion blaster at Theron to no success and ends up being disintegrated as well.

Suddenly, the sand crawler starts driving away along with R4 and Theron's ship. Not wanting to lose them, Theron quickly runs up to its rear and opens fire on the exhaust pipes of the vehicle which has no effect.

_"Shit! I forgot disintegrators work on organic life forms." He facepalms at his own stupidity._

Theron places his rifle back onto his back and starts sprinting after the sand crawler with the child's crib falling not behind. He the jumps to the side and begins to climb but the Jawas are onto him as they poke their heads out of their mobile fortress and mischievously whisper to themselves. Then all of the sudden, the sand crawler moves to the side towards a rock wall. Theron notices in shock and climbs to the side just in time before the crawler scraps through the wall.

The Jedi quickly gets up and starts climbing again the old fashioned way when Jawas start throwing stuff on him to get him off their crawler. He gets a bonk to the head by a huge object and an electric shock from a Jawa poking out the window but Theron retaliates by punching the Jawa away and pulls him out, who falls to his death screaming.

Theron notices the Jawas trying to pull off the object he's climbing on to reach the top and he falls off, with the Jawas believing they succeeded. However, as one of them looks to the side, a familiar hand grabs him that turned out to be Theron and he pulls the Jawa off, who screams before his death.

The Jedi finally reaches the top of the sand crawler, only for a bunch of Jawas waiting for him, ion blasters trained on him. It was an ambush!

Theron wasn't fast enough to quickdraw and the Jawas blasted him with electricity, painfully electrocuting him.

He leans backwards and completely falls of the crawler and hits the sandy ground hard, completely knocking him out as the Jawas' sand crawler drives away with R4 and the ship.

The child caught up to the unconscious teen and innocently looks on at him, wondering if he's alright.

A few minutes later, Theron gasps loudly as he instantly wakes up. Looking at the direction the Jawas went off to, he turns to his left to see the child still in his crib and in perfect condition.

Theron gets back up and walks back to the spot where his droid and ship was stolen. He notices a pile of small parts lying around. Angered, Theron ignites his lightsaber and slashes a nearby boulder to vent out his frustration as he loudly roars in rage.

**...**

**Earth**

Saten gets out of her bathroom with a small towel wrapped around her naked body and another covering her wet hair as she starts to sense a disturbance.

"This disturbance... It's very familiar." She says to herself. "Is that Theron? If it is, I'm literally sensing his emotions?"

Her eyes widen when she figures out what she's sensing, despite not knowing she can sense him a few parsecs away.

"He's angry. Very angry." Saten concludes to herself before expressing concern for her friend. "I hope he's okay."

She wants to help him with what he's angry about but the girl is still unaware that he's off world somewhere.

**...**

**Argos**

Theron exhausts himself after turning the boulder into a pile of rubble. He shuts off his lightsaber and sheathes it back onto his belt before looking at the child, who innocently whimpers with a cute sound in its voice as it feels really sorry for him.

Theron sighs and picks the child back up and puts it in its crib again before they take off into walking the long way back to the settlement.

**To be continued...**


	21. Act 2: Chapter 9

**Act 2: Chapter 9 - The Child (Part 2)**

Nightfall came, and most of the townspeople have turned in for the day. It took Theron the entire afternoon to walk from where his ship and R4 was stolen to back to the town with the child in tow. They enter the inn and see the Innkeeper and HK-47 discussing the payment. Not long after, the droid and Ithorian notice him as well as the child.

"We thought you left." The Ithorian says, a bit surprised that he didn't.

That wasn't the case, however, as Theron looks tired and humiliated due to the fact that he was bested and stolen by a bunch of scavenging Jawas.

**...**

Later outside the inn, the child sees a frog hopping close by and looks on with excitement. While the child follows it on foot, Theron is discussing about his current situation.

"So the both of you found this little guy after you got rid of those bandits?" The Innkeeper questions as he looks at the child.

"I think it's a child." Theron answers, believing that it is. "But that's not important right now. My ship and astromech is most likely destroyed by those scavenging rodents. I'm trapped here."

"Stripped, not destroyed." The Ithorian corrects him. "The Jawas steal. They don't destroy."

"Stolen or destroyed makes no difference to me." Theron bitterly says, hate building up inside him.

Theron hears the child coo and he sees it taking baby steps toward a frog. The Jedi then looks back at the Innkeeper.

"They're protected by their mobile fortress. There's no way to recover my stuff." He continues. _"Unless I resort to using the Force and my lightsaber on them which would get the Inquisitors' attention, then yeah, I should definitely do something stupid like that."_

The child then catches the frog with its bare hands.

"You could trade." The Innkeeper suggests, annoying the Jedi even more.

"With Jawas? Are you out of your damn mind?"

"Commentary: I concur." HK agrees with the Jedi. "The Jawas steal and sell the items to buyers, which is considered swindling. Trading with these vermin meatbags is unacceptable. Shall I kill them?"

"I didn't ask for your opinion, HK." Theron glares at him annoyingly.

The Innkeeper sighs at how narrow minded these two can be when it comes to violence or peace.

"I can take you to them, but it's best that you don't resort to violence while we're there."

"Whatever, old man." Theron huffs, not giving a damn anymore. He just wants his droid that he built and his ship back so badly.

"You might consider into resting first, though."

"I'll sleep when I get my stuff back." The Jedi stubbornly says.

The Innkeeper shrugs and leaves to get to his landspeeder. Theron then turns around and sees the child do something to the frog.

"Hey! Spit that out." He orders the infant.

However, the child starts swallowing the frog whole as it went inside its mouth completely. The child looks up innocently and laughs before burping cutely. Theron shakes his head with amusement once more, wondering why he's talking to a baby that probably doesn't understand him.

"Explanation: The child is carnivorous and prefers to eat small creatures like that frog or possibly a snake."

"Quiet!" Theron raises his voice at the droid, not in the mood for a biology lesson right now.

**...**

The next morning, the landspeeder managed to track down the Jawas as they are outside the sand crawler next to them. HK decided to stay back at the settlement due to not wanting to be taken apart and sold separately by the Jawas. Theron, meanwhile, went with the Ithorian and brought along the child since he doesn't fully trust the assassin droid into babysitting it.

The Jawas notice the landspeeder and are excited that they have a customer. However, they immediately went on the defensive when they saw Theron in the back passenger seat.

The Innkeeper looks at him from behind.

"They don't seem to like you for some reason."

"Well, I did disintegrate a few of them." Theron casually admits, satisfied that he got a chance to that earlier yesterday.

The landspeeder stops moving and the Innkeeper gets out first.

"You need to drop your rifle." He urges the teen.

"It's my weapon. I'm not risking it getting stolen."

"Then you're not getting your droid and ship back."

"Fine." Theron answers and leaves it in the vehicle as he hops out.

However, the Jawas still have their weapons trained on him.

"And the blaster." The Ithorian points at the Jedi's blaster pistol.

The Jedi sighs in annoyance and places his blaster in the vehicle beside his rifle. Unbeknownst to the Innkeeper, however, he doesn't realize that the cylinder shaped object is a lightsaber as he is more focused on Theron's firearms.

The Jawas lower their weapons and allow the Jedi and Ithorian to talk to their leader about trading the droid and Jedi starfighter that hasn't been taken apart yet. Both Theron and the Innkeeper sat down and begin negotiations.

The Jawa speaks in his native language and the Ithorian translates for Theron.

"They will be willing to trade both the astromech and ship for your disintegrator." He translates in English, causing Theron to rolls his eyes and scoff.

"I'm not gonna trade anything. That's my droid and ship. They stole them from me."

The Jawa continues to speak in his native language, not understanding what Theron said.

"Deejak, deejak... je... jeechachook! (They, they... belong... to me!)" The Jedi stutters in Jawa.

The Jawas laughed.

"Chawakee sawa koota." The leader says in his native language before mocking him with hand over his hood, pretending to not understand him. "Male fane shinana Wookiee."

Translation: "You speak terrible Jawa. You sound like a Wookiee."

Theron twitches in anger.

"You understand this?!" He threatens as he unleashes his flamethrower underneath his right sleeve of his jacket.

"No, wait!" The Innkeeper exclaims as the Jawas ducked and panicked from the flames unleashed by Theron, who then stops and stands down. "Easy, easy."

The teen wasn't planning to kill more of them but he decided to make sure they get the message of not screwing with him. Threatened, the Jawas chose to not piss him off any further before their leader continues talking.

"Forgive him." The Innkeeper says in Jawa. "He's not a fan of being provoked and mocked at."

Theron opened his mouth but shuts it immediately, otherwise he won't be able to get his stuff back.

The Jawas then asked them if they're willing to trade for the child in the landspeeder. The Ithorian and Jedi turn their heads to see two Jawas observing the infant.

"GET AWAY FROM IT!" Theron shouts.

The Jawas moved away from the speeder, not wanting to feel the teen's wrath again.

"Surely there must be something else we can trade." The Innkeeper suggests in Jawa.

The Jawas then huddle together as they whisper to each other. Theron was getting suspicious and thinks this is a waste of time. However, the Jawas turn to them and offered a different item the Jedi could trade.

"We will require The Egg. Bring us The Egg."

The Innkeeper facepalms in annoyance but Theron becomes confused.

"The Egg? What egg?" Theron asks him, but the Ithorian didn't say.

The Jawas begin chanting 'Suga' repeatedly.

**...**Not long after, the sand crawler is on the move that will take Theron to where the Egg is located at. Inside the small cockpit of the vehicle Theron's height makes it difficult to sit in.

"Suga..." A Jawa chants to annoy the Jedi.

Theron looks at him with an annoyed glare and goes back to looking forward through the front windshield. He sighs to himself at why he's doing this when the sand crawler shakes and Theron bumps his head hard.

"Gah! Motherf-!" He curses, earning a cackling laugh from the Jawas.

Theron growls in anger and annoyance since they most likely did that on purpose.

**...**

Finally, the sand crawler has reached its destination and Theron walks down the ramp with the child's crib in tow. He's not leaving it for the Jawas to steal behind his back after all.

**To be continued...**


	22. Act 2: Chapter 10

**Act 2: Chapter 10 - The Child (Part 3)**

Theron and the child arrived at a cave entrance where the Egg is waiting to be taken. Of course, the Jawas didn't tell him what kind of egg he's looking for as he doesn't know what animal it is he'll have to get past.

The teen takes one look at the baby before he ventures into the cave alone, leaving the child waiting for the Jedi's return.

Inside the cave, Theron ignites his lightsaber and searches for the Egg. But upon looking, something begins moving in the darkness as a reptilian eye opens up and growling is heard. The Jedi turns around and he gasps in shock.

**...**

A few seconds later, the child hears blaster fire from inside the cave and Theron is seen flying out of the cave landing in the sandy ground hard yet again. Then, a large creature with fangs and a tail crawls out of the cave, roars loudly.

_"A Krayt dragon?!" Theron questions to himself. "I thought they're native to Tatooine and are considered extinct! And they didn't tell me about the Egg being from that species?!""_

His thoughts, however, were immediately interrupted when the dragon charges at him and attempts to claw him. Luckily, Theron dodges out of the way in time due to his former Jedi training. Realizing there's an easier way to defeat the dragon without resorting to violence, Theron closes his eyes reaches out with the Force to try and connect with it.

The beast takes huge steps toward him and looks on at what he's doing. Theron thinks that it's working. Unfortunately, he was caught off guard when the Krayt dragon opens its mouth up, and swallow him whole in an instant.

The child, meanwhile, witnessed the whole thing and didn't know what just happened. However, the dragon sniffs the air as it has gotten a lock on the infant's scent when the large beast turns its head toward the child. The creature then charges at it and prepares to eat the child when the latter itself does something to the dragon as it is stopped in place like it can no longer move. This didn't last as it completely exhausted the child and it fell asleep, releasing its Force hold on the Krayt dragon.

The dragon roars once again and re-attempts to eat the child. Suddenly, the dragon stops what its doing as it feels a huge stomach ache in its belly, and in the blink of an eye, the Krayt dragon explodes with mucus and organs scattered all over the ground. The cause of this was none other than Theron, who used his disintegrator to blast the dragon into nothingness and he's now covered in that same disgusting substance while carrying a strong stench on himself from being inside the dragon's stomach.

"Ugh..." He mutters in disgust while shaking the stomach mucus off of him. "Maybe I should vaporize the mind-resistant dragon outside of its stomach instead of trying to tame it with the Force next time."

He then sees the child still in the crib as it's sleeping from the usage of the Force that Theron is still unaware of.

"Little guy must've been tired from all that traveling." He thinks before shrugging to himself.

After sheathing his rifle, Theron notices shiny objects scattered on the sand. He immediately recognizes them as he starts drooling in awe.

They are Krayt dragon pearls. They're precious jewels only found inside of the dragons. And fun fact, they're another type of Kyber crystal for building a lightsaber.

Not wasting anytime, Theron quickly loots the pearls into a money pouch and tucks them away in one of his jacket's pockets.

"Now then, what was I doing earlier before I was so rudely interrupted?" He rhetorically wonders as he enters the cave once more.

**...**

The Jawas were beginning to get impatient with having the Egg and are anxious in just leaving, despite the Innkeeper's pleas in waiting a little bit longer for the boy's return with the prize.

The Innkeeper was right, and Theron finally came back with egg in his arms. The Jawas all scurry to him and he carefully hands the Egg to them. Their leaders raises it in the air as they chatter with excitement. And in one swoop, the leader chops the top of the Egg off and grabs the yellow yolk to eat it before offering the rest of the food to them, immediately grabbing more of the yolk for themselves to enjoy.

"Figures." Theron shakes his head in amusement and with disbelief before turning towards the Ithorian. "I'm surprised you didn't leave when I left to retrieve their food."

"I'm surprised you didn't take so long." He jokes before laughing. "And I take it the dragon didn't give it up so easily for you."

"Yeah, and I was swallowed whole in the process. Literally." Theron deadpans. "But other than that, I've managed to survive its stomach."

"Well you do have an interesting odor coming off of you after all."

"Ha ha. Very funny."

**...**

The ride back to the village was a quiet one. Sorta. R4 was so happy that Theron rescued him from the clutches of the Jawas trying to take him apart and sell him. The teen had to calm him down since the child is sleeping, earning questions from the astromech.

"No, no, no. No way! You can't be serious, meatbag!" R4 argues in disbelief.

"We can't just leave him here on this planet, R4! I no longer want to fight someone's wars, but that doesn't mean I should abandon the kid."

"Last I checked, none of us know how to babysit a member of Yoda's species since they're a complete enigma to both galaxies and humans have shorter lifespans. Not to mention, we don't know where their homeworld is exactly." The astro droid points out.

"Look, I get it." Theron sighs. "You don't want to babysit. I don't want to babysit. But until we can figure out where we can find his home planet in the Milky Way, he's coming back to Earth with us, whether you like it or not."

R4 grumbles and looks away, already done talking.

**...**

They finally reached the settlement with the Jedi's starfighter being towed in a cart.

"I can't thank you enough, old man." Theron thanks him as they get out of the landspeeder.

"Please, it is I who you should be thanking." The Ithorian says.

"Huh?"

"You and that bounty droid were able to bring peace to this land. And now that the bandits are gone, this town can now relax and breath a little more than it should have." He further elaborates.

"Then let me offer these Krayt dragon pearls for helping me get R4 and my ship back." Theron offers but the Innkeeper immediately declines.

"I cannot accept." He says. "You have earned those from your victory, you keep them. However, I can reward you with supplies that you may need for your continuous journey."

"Thank you, sir. That's very kind of you, but..." Theron hesitates as he looks back at his small ship. "I'm afraid my ship is a little too small to carry large supplies."

"Oh that shouldn't be a problem." The Ithorian casually waves his hand at him. "I've got the right ship for the job. And I think you'll be interested in this one."

Theron's head quickly turns back to him with interest and curiosity onto what the Innkeeper is talking about.

**...**

On the other side of the small town, the Innkeeper brings Theron to a large shed that houses the ship. Sliding the doors open, Theron gets a good look at the appearance of the ship.

It is a Corellian-sized freighter roughly resembled Aurebesh sigil minus the inward curves at the ends of the outer prongs, with the center prong flush with them, and with a concave curve to the vertical line. Visualizing the open side as the bow, theship's mass filled out the stern to the shape's midpoint and left only a small prong on the starboard side. The starboard mass contained a deployable turret that would extend from the ship's ventral side, and on the port and starboard sides were two more turret emplacements.

"A Dynamic-class freighter." Theron mutters in disbelief. "They were decommissioned after the end of the Jedi Civil War, and the only existing one of these babies is-."

"The Ebon Hawk." The Innkeeper finishes the boy's sentence. "And you're literally looking at the one and only."

"What?!" Theron and R4 exclaimed in shock.

"This is THE Legendary Ebon Hawk that Revan piloted?!" Theron questions as he recognizes the worn down white and red paint job. "But I thought this baby was scrapped centuries ago on Dromund Kaas."

"Remember when I mentioned a descendant of Revan that led the Jedi in this galaxy?" The Ithorian reminds him.

"Yeah, so?" Theron shrugs before he realizes something. "Wait, are you saying that he found and recovered the Prodigal Knight's vessel sometime after the death of the Immortal Emperor?"

"That's right." He nods in confirmation. "After his passing, one of his children gave my family this ship to hide until it could be used again. Unfortunately, after the Jedi disbanded and left this galaxy, the Ebon Hawk no longer got out as it use to. But it's still the fastest ship in the entire Galaxy."

"I can't believe it." Theron mutters with excitement. "We are looking at a piece of galactic history. Oh, my master would've loved to see his ancestor's prized ship."

"I'm sure he would be proud of you in finding it, meatbag." R4 beeps.

"Yes, he would've." The Jedi sadly smiles before changing the topic with excitement yet again. "But hey! With a lick of new paint and some further modifications to this old hunk of junk, she'll be fast and strong again like the old days."

"True that, meatbag." R4 chirps in agreement. "True that."

**...**

10 minutes have passed, and Theron and R4 have finished loading up the last of the supplies into the Ebon Hawk's cargo hold with some help from the Innkeeper and HK-47. After that, Theron and HK walk down the ramp of the ship as they're now outside of it.

"I could use someone like you, HK." Theron offers. "Someone by my side in bounty hunting."

"Statement: I am honored, meatbag. But I am needed elsewhere in the Milky Way, sadly. There are other bounties I must complete for the Guild."

"Well, if you ever need help, you know how to contact me." Theron shrugs before handing him his frequency number.

"Until our paths cross?" HK asks with an offered hand.

Theron grips it tightly and grins.

"Till our paths cross." He answers before letting go of his hand.

HK nods as he steps away to allow the Ithorian to speak.

"Thanks again for all that you've done here."

"Hey, it's no problem at all old man."

"Please, call me Bob." The Innkeeper known as Bob asks to call him by his name.

"Okay, Bob." Theron nods as they handshake.

"If you're looking for a place to lay low or for more supplies, then this town's doors will always be open to you and your droid."

"Thank you." Theron bows in respect.

"Ready to go, meatbag?" R4 asks him.

"Yeah. Let's go home." The Jedi nods as he begins walking up the ramp.

"And good luck with the child, kid! May it bring you happiness and prosperity to your adventures, and survive." Bob shouts.

"I will." Theron promises. "May the Force be with you."

"And you."

Smiling, Theron heads inside as the ramp of the ship closes up.

**...**

**[The Next Journey - The Mandalorian OST plays]**

Theron wastes no time in sitting in the cockpit's pilot seat with the child sleeping in his crib behind the teen's seat on the right.

"Alright, baby. Let's see what you can do." He mutters to himself as he starts up the ship's main engines.

The thrusters come to life as they glow blue and the shed's ceiling opens up as the Ebon Hawk levitates in the air, closing up the landing gear back inside.

Looking outside of the cockpit's viewport, Theron sees Bob waving and HK raising his blaster up in the air as a farewell salute. Theron returns it with his trademark finger salute.

And like that, the Ebon Hawk finally takes off after thousands of years for being stored up in a shed. Theron then checks on the child and shakes the crib to wake him up. Unfortunately, he's still asleep.

Shrugging, Theron goes back to flying the ship as the Ebon Hawk has already exit Argos's orbit. He then sees R4 piloting the Jedi starfighter and docks with the hyperspace ring.

"See ya soon, Theron." R4 beeps over on the Hawk's comms.

"You too, bud." Theron chuckles as he enters the calculations to make the jump into hyperspace towards Earth.

The Jedi then sees R4 and the small fighter jump into hyperspace, knowing that he'll be alright going home separately on another ship. Meanwhile, the child slowly wakes up, cooing. Theron didn't turn around, but he then smiles that he's up.

With the calculations finished, Theron then grips on the lever.

"Prepare for lightspeed." He says to himself.

Pushing the lever forward, the stars get brighter as the child gets to see his first hyperspace jump ever. And like that, the Ebon Hawk vanishes into the stars.

It's going to be one long journey back to Earth.

**...**

**Back on Argos...**

The pile of dead bandits lie over the abandoned camp as a shadow overlooks them. Black leather boots stop walking as the mysterious figure crouches down and inspects them, touching one of corpses.

"He's been here. It looks like the reports from PT- 3571 were right after all."

**To be continued...**


	23. Interlude I (Part 2)

**Interlude (Part 2)**: **Life as a Slave**

_Theron opens his eyes, and looks at his surroundings. He is inside a shop of sorts due to the walls made of sand._

**_"What the hell?" He mutters. "This better not be another vision of the past."_**

_He then walks out of the room to see more junk being displayed on the walls or shelves. Then, he notices a Toydarian behind the front counter. Curious, Theron attempted to get his attention but it only resulted in phasing right through certain objects in the junk shop._

**_"God damnit." He angrily huffs. "Of course it's a vision. And why am I on Tatooine of all places?"_**

**32 BBY**

**Tatooine**

**Mos Espa**

_Suddenly, the door chime rings to life as a tall, bearded man wearing a poncho (If you the audience know, he's the spitting image of Liam Neeson) - accompanied by a Gungan (who looks rather clumsy given his behavior), a 14 year old girl in rough peasant clothes, and a dome-headed, blue astromech droid - enters the shop._

_Theron immediately recognizes her._

**_"Wait a sec! That's the girl from that other vision! Padme, was it? But what's she even doing in a place like this?" He wonders in thought._**

_With his wings on his back, the Toydarian flies out of his seat behind the front counter and greets the bearded man in Huttese. Theron could only make out what little he knows about that disgusting language as the shop owner is asking the man on what he wants to buy._

_The man answer was that he's looking to buy a new Nubian hyperdrive generator. The Toydarian was thrilled that he finally has a customer willing to buy an expensive part that are exclusively used on Naboo royal ships. He then calls out to his assistant who then immediately comes in. It was a boy who is no older than 9 years and Theron recognizes him as well._

**_"It's him!" He deduces._**

_The Toydarian then tells the boy to watch the shop while he takes the tall man out in the back so he can barter with him on price of his order. Like that, the man and droid follows the shop owner out in the back. Meanwhile, the boy hitched himself up onto the counter and begins talking to her._

_"Are you an angel?" The boy blurts out._

_The girl turns around, smiling at him but confused to his odd question._

_"What?"_

_"An angel." He responded as she stepped closer to him. "I've heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They are the most beautiful creatures in the universe. Thry live on the Moons of Iego, I think."_

_"You're a funny little boy." She said sweetly. "How do you know so much?"_

_"I listen to all the traders and starpilots who come through here. I'm a pilot, you know, and someday, I'm going to fly away from this place."_

_"You're a pilot?" She asks, as if she found it hard to believe that a young boy like him would be capable of flying a ship._

_"Mm-hmm. All my life."_

_"How long have you been here?"_

_"Since I was very little, three, I think. My mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us betting on the Podraces."_

_Sounding surprised and alarmed, the girl learns that he's a slave._

_"You're a slave?"_

_Even though the girl is technically correct, the boy didn't like being called one, and he felt stung by her question._

_"I'm a person, and my name is Anakin." He answers with a glare._

_Theron perks up in shock._

**_"This boy is Anakin Skywalker, the Hero with No Fear?!" Theron exclaims. "And he was a slave?! The Old Jedi and galactic records never mentioned anything about this."_**

_Suspicious, Theron continues to listen in on their conversation._

_"I'm sorry. I don't fully understand." She apologizes as she glances around the shop's interior, as if seeking answers from the assorted scrap that lined the walls. "This is s strange place to me."_

_Anakin senses her emotions and realizes she meant what she has said. Therefore, he accepts her apology with a mental nod in his head. He remembers his own arrival to Tatooine, and had to admit that he'd found it strange too._

_A few minutes later, the tall man and the droid returned with the Toydarian named Watto. The man announced that his group is leaving, and Anakin felt heartsick as the girl walked out the door._

_Theron notices the Gungan in his vision acting all clumsy when he was carrying parts in his hands, wobbling before he fell on his back with a scream. The Gungan then gets up and walks away from the mess he made, following his group outside the shop._

_"**Dumbass." Theron rolls his eyes at the idiocy of the Gungan's actions. "No wonder a Gungan's mind is so easy to manipulate. But other than that, seeing Anakin as a slave isn't what I was expecting in his childhood. And despite Watto being a slaver and shop owner, he's not cruel at all, no matter his gruffy appearance and Italian accent. Sometimes, slavers have a sense of honor and have always hated slavery like most of the Americans did back during Earth's 19th Century."**_

_After Watto gave Anakin permission to head home for the day, the boy decides to catch up with the off worlders that had just left the shop._

_Theron then decides to follow him outside, only to end up in a different building via Force vision fast forwarding._

**_"Oh come on!" He laments as his surroundings changed from the blinding light._**

**...**

_He now sees Anakin and his mother Shmi eating lunch with the off worlders due to a sandstorm outside that prevents the group from returning to their ship in the outskirts of Mos Espa. They went on to discuss why the group are really here on Tatooine._

_From what Theron could learn, the tall man is Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, the Gungan known as Jar Jar Binks, and the girl's full name Padme Naberrie who is a handmaiden to Queen Amidala of the planet Naboo. Qui-Gon explains that he's been escorting the queen and her entourage on an important mission to the Republic capital world of Coruscant when their ship had been damaged, and they were forced to land on Tatooine without funds for the necessary repairs._

_Hoping to help, Anakin explained that a big Podrace, the Boonta Eve Classic, was scheduled for the following day. _But Shmi didn't like that idea, fearing for her son's life.

_"Anakin! Watto won't let you." She says._

_"Watto doesn't know I've built it!" He argues before turning towards Qui-Gon. "You could make him think it was yours, and get me to piloted for him."_

_"I don't want you to race, it's awful. I die every time Watto makes you do it."_

_"But mom, I love it! The prize money would more than pay for the parts they need."_

_"Anakin..."_

_"Your mother's right." The Jedi Master says before asking the boy's mother. "Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who can help us?"_

_"No." She shakes her head disappointedly._

_Anakin looks at everyone and turns toward Shmi._

_"Mom, you said the biggest problem in the universe is no one helps each other." He says, reminding her of the important lesson she taught him about in life._

_Shmi sighs, knowing that her son is right. It would go against everything she had taught him._

_"I'm sure Qui-Gon doesn't want to put your son in danger." Padme assures. "We'll find some other way."_

_"No." The mother says, shaking her head. "There is no other way. I may not like it, but he can help you. He was meant to help you."_

_Anakin smiles, happy that his mother came through. He then looks at Qui-Gon, who questions himself about whether or not he should allow him to help out with their current situation they're in._

* * *

_Later outside, Qui-Gon _informs someone through his commlink.

_"What if this plan fails, Master?" A familiar, accented voice asks in concern through the device. "We could be stuck here a very long time."_

_"Well, it's too dangerous to call for help. A ship without a power supply isn't gonna get us anywhere." Qui-Gon points out before pausing for a moment. "And... there's something about this boy."_

_Ending the call, he puts his communicator away just as Shmi comes outside of the hovel beside the Jedi Master as they watch Anakin, Jar Jar, and Padme (alongside a certain protocol droid and astromech) work on the Pod Racer the boy spent a few years working on behind Watto's back._

_"You should be very proud of your son." He says. "He gives without any thought of reward."_

_"Well, he knows nothing of greed." She explains, smiling. "He has a..."_

_"He has special powers." He finishes her sentence._

_"Yes." The mother nods hesitantly._

_"He can see things before they happened. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes." He explains while they're looking at Anakin from a distance. "It's a Jedi trait."_

_"He deserves better than a slave's life."_

_"Had he'd been born in the Republic, we would've identified him earlier. The Force is usually strong with him. That much is clear." He agrees with her before asking the important question. "Who was hid father?"_

_Shmi looks up at him, feeling uncomfortable at that question but let's the cat out of the bag._

_"There was no father." She answers._

**_Theron's eyes widen in shock at what she means by that before continuing to listen._**

_"I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him. I can't explain what happened." She finishes her story. "Can you help him_?"

_"I don't know." The Jedi Master answers, unsure. "I didn't actually come here to free slaves."_

**_Theron looks down and sighs to himself before the scene changes again._**

**...**

_Later that night, Qui-Gon _us helping clean Anakin's minor cut on his arm as the latter asks him about the different star systems in the Galaxy.

_"There's so many." Anakin says looking up at the night sky filled with stars. "Do they all have a system of planets?"_

_"Most of them." Qui-Gon answers, continuing to clean the boy's small wound._

_"Has anyone been to them all?"_

_"Hmm. Not likely."_

_"I'm gonna be the first one to see them all." He declares with pride._

_"Ani, bedtime!" Shmi calls from inside._

_The Jedi Master patches up the boy's injury in which the latter yelps a bit._

_"There we are. Good as new." Qui-Gon says as Shmi comes by the door from inside._

_"Ani, I'm not gonna tell you again." She reminds him, walking passed the door._

_"What are you doing?" The boy asks_ the Jedi Master.

_"Checking your blood for infections." The Jedi Master answers with reassurance. "Go on. You have a big day tomorrow. Sleep well, Ani."_

_After Anakin went back inside to sleep, Qui-Gon contacts his Padawan who is left on board the queen's ship._

_"Obi-Wan?" He speaks through the commlink in his hand._

_"Yes Master?" The Padawan answers._

**_"Obi-Wan Kenobi? As in the Negotiator, is apprenticed to this old geezer?" Theron questions in shock, not knowing that Obi-Wan had a master like Qui-Gon. "Guess Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor might make a good pair of actors as movie partners."_**

_"I need an analysis of his blood sample I'm sending in."_

_"Wait a minute." Obi-Wan replies as he is bringing up his workstation's computer online._

_"I need a midichlorian count." Qui-Gon clarifies as he sends in the boy's blood sample to his Padawan._

**_"Midichlorian count? Is that how Anakin was discovered to be Force sensitive?" Theron wonders. However, there's more to Qui-Gon's discovery when Obi-Wan finishes his analysis._**

_"The reading's off the chart." He explains with shock in his voice. "Over twenty thousand! Even Master Yoda doesn't have a midichlorian count that high."_

**_"Wait, what?! You mean Anakin is that strong in the Force?! So he's stronger than Yoda and could possibly be around Revan's level of power?! That shouldn't even be possible, but..."_**

_"No Jedi has." Qui-Gon cuts off Theron's thoughts when the Jedi Master spoke._

_"What does that mean?" Obi-Wan asks, not understanding it all._

**_"Good question." Theron agrees in his thoughts._**

_"I'm not sure." The Jedi Master answers, unsure but does have an idea of what it truly means._

**_..._**

**Present Day**

**August 1, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

Unfortunately, Theron ended up waking up in his pilot seat as the Ebon Hawk's navi-computer starts beeping.

"And just when things are getting interesting even more." Theron mutters in annoyance at the will of the Force being unpredictable as ever.

Theron then pulls out of hyperspace as the ship has just appeared next to the Earth's moon, where R4 has only exited hyperspace seconds before the teen did.

"Sleep well, meatbag?" R4 teases over on the Hawk's comms.

Theron groans again.

"Yes, I did." He deadpans. "I'll meet you down at our home in the Japanese countryside."

And just like that, the Ebon Hawk begins its descent to the planet's surface after the Jedi starfighter ejects from its docking ring and follows the freighter not too far behind.

**To be continued...**


	24. Act 2: Chapter 11

**Act 2: Chapter 21 - Festival Preparation**

The Ebon Hawk and the Jedi fighter land inside their home's hangar. It is already sunset, which means curfew in Academy City is in affect. Besides, Theron and R4 could just sneak back in city through the old sewer tunnels.

"Home sweet home." Theron sighs as he and the child in the crib exit the Ebon Hawk down its boarding ramp before he closes it.

"You know, we could've brought our ships to inside Academy City instead." R4 beeps.

"You know we can't do that without the Superintendent's permission, which by the way, is the city's strongest Esper. I'm not going to risk going behind his back like that. If I happen to run into him, then I'll ask before we do anything else. Plus, we've got a kid to look after for a while till we find his home, AND see if Saten has made her decision in wanting to learn the ways of the Force."

The child coos in response, which sounds like he's agreeing with the teen.

"Fine." The droid grumbles. "But as soon as you do get permission, we still got a ship to repair."

"Duly noted." The Jedi rolls his eyes, not in the mood to put up with his droid's complaints. Seriously, he's acting like all of the protocol droids that have the stuck up, whiny personality.

**...**

Back in the city, Saten has just returned to her apartment when curfew came in effect. She looks very nervous given her blushing face.

"Damn it, why did I even agree with Uiharu in challenging her in a bet I somehow lost?" She laments in a cute dramatic way. "I can't go one day without flipping her skirt!"

The girl then opens up her eyes at something else.

"And what's worse, I have to wear a dress with a short skirt at the Midsummer Festival tomorrow!" She gasps in horror. "This must be payback from her and Misaka, isn't it?!"

She checks her closet wardrobe and sees a few dress clothes hanging on a rack and folded neatly on a small dresser inside the closet. Saten then picks up a white summer dress that has a short length skirt and lacks shoulder straps.

"It's beautiful." She admits shyly. "But... I can't wear this! What if creeps try to look under my skirt? *gasps* What if Theron does the same?! No, no, no! He isn't THAT kind of guy."

Saten puts the dress aside on her bed and takes out a pair of white lingerie panties and matching color strapless lingerie bra. Her blush deepens.

"Why am I acting this way?! It's not a date! He and I are just hanging out, that's all." She shakes her head, denying what she's feeling.

She then takes out her recovered, old smartphone and checks Theron's number. She gets even more nervous.

"You're just calling him, Ruiko." She tells herself, taking deep breaths. "It's just a simple phone call."

After she dialled the number down, Saten immediately answers first on her phone.

"Hey Theron." She greets.

_"Saten? What are you doing up? Curfew just started a few minutes ago." Theron asks._

"Well, I was just wondering if you're still on for tomorrow?"

_"Tomorrow?"_

_"_You know, the Midsummer Festival. We're hanging out with Uiharu and the others, remember?"

There was a moment of silence on his end.

_"Oh. Oh! That festival! I completely forgot all about it!"_

"You forgot?" Saten giggles.

_"Yeah, you know, the usual." He nonchalantly explains without going in detail of what happened on Argos. "Look, it's getting late on my end so why don't we save our banter for tomorrow morning at the festival."_

"Sounds good."

_"Okay then. See you soon."_

"Wait!" She stops him from ending the call. "Maybe when the festival is done, do you want to discuss about my decision on if I want to learn to control my ability on using the Force? After the festival, I mean?"

_"I was going to bring that up tomorrow but... of course."_

"Thanks." She smiles.

**...**

"No problem. Goodnight, beautiful." He yawns.

_"Night, Theron." She warmly says._

He ends the call as he climbs into bed. But then, he realizes his mistake.

"Shit, shit, shit! No! I didn't mean to call her that!"

**...**

"Wait." She says to herself. " Did he just called me...?"

Realizing that he called her 'beautiful,' her face turns red, all flustered along with her heart beating rapidly again.

She screams in a high pitch voice and buries her face into a pillow to suppress it. After finishing up her little breakdown, she moves her face upward from the pillow.

"Talk about a weird guy..." She murmurs with red blush still on her face, all shy once more.

**...**

**A few hours later (during the night)...**

A small starfighter jumps out of hyperspace. This is a modified TIE Striker, originally designed for in-atmosphere combat, now modified for space voyaging and combat along with shielding and a class 1 hyperdrive (fastest engine class). The Striker's cockpit has been upgraded with the rear gunner seat turned into a passenger/co-pilot seat as the pilot seat can control the bombardment of proton bombs on its own. After all, the ship is built for speed and maneuverability like the original unmodified variant. Lastly, the paint job is mostly dark grey and black with red outlines on the wings.

The Striker bypasses Earth's atmosphere and military satelites (due to a superior stealth system, making it difficult for ships to detect it in an instant) as it flies down toward a forest area close to the walls of Academy City. The ship's infamous TIE howling sound is suppressed when the stealth systems have been engaged.

After landing, the entry hatch above the front of TIE opens up and the mysterious figure climbs out of the cockpit before hopping down on the grassy surface - surrounded by trees - without injury. He wears black armor (Sith Stalker armor (Dark Lord/Hoth variant) but black with red outlines; no claw attachments on full body gloved fingers) with a black cloak (hood down). He dons a black with red outlines helmet that has an outwards slanting metal plate attached that protects the rear and sides of the neck, and mimics the silhouette of Darth Vader's helmet, while also sporting a red T-visor. Lastly on his belt, he carries his lightsaber that's in crescent setting, similar to that of a European sword hilt except that the lightsaber hilt is slightly larger and has two blade emitters on opposite sides.

He is an Inquisitor, a dark side adept that were meant to hunt down surviving Jedi after the Purge. However, that was three centuries ago because unlike the Inquisitors that were once Jedi from when the Empire first established in the old Galaxy, the Milky Way's Inquisitorious were trained as children to learn the ways of the dark side of the Force. And thus, their new task is to eliminate any opposing factions that use the Force against the Empire, albeit in secrecy as a majority of the Empire aren't aware of their existence like the Sith the Inquisitors served under. But wait, they have a second objective as they're to track down any Force sensitive children so that they're used and trained within the Inquisitor ranks.

"I sense his presence nearby." He says to himself. "He is close."

The Inquisitor then hides his ship from prying eyes and makes his way to finding a way inside the city without being detected by its outer defenses.

**To be continued...**


	25. Act 2: Chapter 12

**Act 2: Chapter 12 - The Midsummer Festival** **II (Part 1)**

**August 2, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

His alarm clock beeps loudly for like the ninth time, finally getting a groggy Theron up. He rubs his tired looking eyes and noticed that it's thirty minutes after eight in the morning. His eyes pop open, realizing what day it is.

"Oh Karabast!" He curses loudly as he falls off the bed and quickly zooms into his shower with his clean clothes on. "I'm going to be late!"

A few minutes later, he is already out of the shower wearing the same clothes from his trip to Argos - now all cleaned from last night. The child outside of his room sees him take his backpack and stuffs his disassembled disintegrator and blaster pistol inside along with his belt.

"About time." R4 says to him. "You have about 20 minutes left before you're late."

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, keep an eye on the baby. Read the baby books carefully and make sure he's fed properly. Make bone broth if you have to but keep him away from anything thst might get him sick." Theron instructs his droid in a hurry as he then grabs his bag and rushes out the door. "Later!"

"Bu-!" R4 begins to argue but Theron has already left when the door closed behind the teen.

The astromech grumbled again, questioning why he has to put up with a meatbag like Theron.

**...**

In her apartment, Saten finally shines up her toe and finger nails with clear nail polish and puts on the white summer dress with an up close look of her white lingerie bra busting up her C cup boobs and panties. She then heads to the front door and puts on her 2-3 inch white ankle strap heel sandals. The girl stands up and takes a look at the mirror. She has her hair tied into a pony tail and she gives a twirl around before covering her short skirt down to hide her panties, blushing in embarrassment. To be honest, she looks like a princess.

"Well," She sighs as she grabs her phone and keys. "Here goes nothing."

Exiting her apartment and locking the door, Saten puts away her keys and phone in a pocket of her dress when she drops her good luck charm. She picks it up and looks at it briefly before tucking it away in her pocket. She then puts on a flower bracelet and heads off to the Tokiwadai School Dormitory where the festival is being held.

**...**

**Academy City**

**School District 7**

**Tokiwadai Middle School Girls Dormitory (Outside of the Garden of Learning)**

"So this is Misaka and Shirai's dorms, huh?" Theron comments the outside appearance of the building. "Looks like a not so flashy, two story five-star hotel to me."

Shrugging, he heads inside the front lobby where the other guests are greeted by a middle school girls wearing black housekeeping maid attires with white aprons as they hand out pamphlets listing different activities or events for the said guests.

Just as he decides to have a look around for his friends, someone calls out to him.

"Welcome to our dorm!" A familiar girl in her maid outfit greets. "Would you like a pamphlet listing this year's events?"

Theron turns around and accepts the pamphlet from her hands.

"Thank you. I-." He begins but looks up to see that it's none other Mikoto Misaka. "Wait a minute. Misaka?!"

"Theron?!" She exclaims after she didn't recognize him at first.

"What's with the maid outfit? Are you participating in helping out with the other girls doing the same thing?" He asks, confused.

"More importantly, why are you wearing that?" She counters questions him. "You're supposed to be dressed properly for the festival."

"So?" He shrugs. "It's not like anyone else is caring about how I dress. Plus, I don't have my hood on."

"We're here, you guys!" Theron and Mikoto turned their heads and saw Uiharu and Saten coming up to them. However, they were completely shocked of the appearance of Saten for what she's wearing.

"S-Saten?" Theron asking while blushing.

"Oh, hey there Theron." Saten said, with a similar blush on her face, still feeling embarrassed of her appearance.

"You decided to try on a new look today?" Theron concluded.

"Y-Yeah, so what do you think?" She asked him.

"Like a princess." He answers with honesty.

"Thank you, Theron." Saten said, while continuing to blush.

Just then, camera flashes are hitting the girl.

"Huh? Shirai?" Theron asked, wondering how the teleporter got here.

The Level 4 herself has a camera strapped around her neck and is really impressed.

"Shirai!" Saten questions her. "Why are you taking photos of me?"

"I thought I might take pictures of my friends this time since I already have pictures of Sissy in a maid outfit from last year." She explains.

"Like when you were checking out underneath my skirt?" Misaka roasts with annoyance, which Shirai ignores.

Theron was confused.

"She did what?"

"It's a long story." The Railgun confirms.

"But aside from that," Shirai changes the topic as she looks at the pictures she has taken. "I'm impressed that Saten has the courage to wear that. And that she's actually wearing lingerie she was trying to convince Uiharu to wear. A little out of character. Unless..."

Shirai then has a smug look on her face.

"I-I lost a bet with Uiharu." Saten looks away, ashamed with herself as her cheeks were as red as a tomato.

"I warned you not to get so caught up in the moment, Saten." Uiharu reminds her before beaming with joy. "Now I can finally be free of your skirt flipping for a day!"

"That still doesn't explain the dress Saten's wearing." Theron deadpans.

"It's because I lost the bet." She answers his question. "That's all you need to know."

"Well whatever happened between you and Uiharu, that's on you." He shrugs. "But damn, R4 was right about one thing. Your body is really appealing."

Saten blushes again at his comment before perking up at the boy's droid being mentioned.

"Wait, he said that?"

"When he was teasing me about liking you, yeah." He answers.

Before Saten could say anything else, Uiharu steps in.

"Alright, I think it's time to enjoy the festival." Uiharu announces.

"Sure, let's get going."

**...**

**Back at home...**

R4 has already finished reading the books and goes to check on the child. When he got there, however, the kid wasn't where he was. The droid searches everywhere, but couldn't find him, resulting in R4 panicking.

**...**

Meanwhile, the friends are participating in an embroidery event, this time with Shirai and Theron.

"There." Uiharu finishes proudly. "I managed to improve on my flower this time around."

Uiharu has managed to rework on the flower she made from last year's festival and is about to show it to her friends, but then sees what her friends made.

"I may not have skill, but at least I made Sissy. Heh, heh." Shirai creepily shows off her embroidery of her roommate, in which the Teleporter received getting her cheeks being pulled by Misaka herself.

Uiharu sweatdrops at her Judgement partner, a little creeped out. She then looks at Saten's who made a blue bladed lightsaber.

"I guess all that practicing paid off after all." Saten smiles at her finest work.

The Level 1 sighs in relief that she is now on par with her best friend's skills. Unfortunately, Misaka still topped them with ease with another Gekota-related embroidery.

"Hey Theron, how's yours?" Saten asks.

"Just about..." He murmurs before setting the needle and thread down. "There! That should do it."

The girls all looked at his embroidery work. It is a gold emblem with a pair of curved wings on opposite sides along with a lightsaber resembling a star in the center. The outlines of the embroidery is mostly white and blue.

"Wow!" They said in awe.

"You're skills might even be better than mine." Misaka admits, slightly jealous of his fast learning skills.

"Meh. It's not perfect, but it is badass looking." He shrugs.

"So what does that emblem represent?" The Level 0 asks curiously.

"It's the symbol of the Jedi Order." He answers.

"Cool!" They said in awe once more.

"I could even say the same thing about yours, Saten. Nice skills you got there."

"Aw, that's sweet of you, Theron. Thanks." She smiles.

**...**

After that, the group are looking at a display of flowers.

"I have to say, these flowers are so well arrange." Theron concludes, impressed with them.

"I know, right?" Saten agrees.

"I was wondering something. Did Uiharu arranged the flowers on her head herself, or something like that?" He curiously asks.

"Not sure." She shrugs before turning towards her. "Hey Uiharu, how do you arrange your flowers?"

"What are you talking about?"

Theron, Saten, Misaka, and Shirai blinked in confusion.

"Excuse me." A Tokiwadai student and her friends in maid outfits politely asks, getting their attention. "Is that dress your wearing yours?"

Saten immediately gets flustered.

"Oh, it's meant for my friend Uiharu since it's her size." She nervously answers while blushing. "Surprisingly, it fits me but the skirt is so small that it gets a bit breezy underneath."

"It looks lovely on you." Another Tokiwadai girl compliments. "And I think your boyfriend is impressed with it as well."

"W-Wha?! D-Did you just call him my boyfriend!?" Saten blushes.

Theron looks away, doing his best to hide his own blush on his face as the Tokiwadai maids and the blushing teens' friends giggle at their cute reaction.

**...**

We now see a montage of the five friends enjoying with the rest of the festival.

From looking at paintings to enjoying talking to each other as friends normally would, the group seems to be having a great time. Not mention, Uiharu's hyper alter ego that Theron describes her as a mild-mannered girl similar to a certain Man of Steel from the comics he's read once before giving up on reading them due to his OP status.

**...**

**Meanwhile...**

Although he searched the whole household, R4 isn't giving up on finding the child. He continues looking around until he heard something in the kitchen.

CLANG!

The droid suspiciously grumbles and heads for the kitchen, only to see that it's all messy with dishes piled on the clean floors. He looks up to learn that something is in one of the top cabinets, rustling through its contents. Firing a cable at the cabinet doors, R4 pulls it open and discovers that the child is eating nothing but oatmeal raisin cookies.

The baby immediately looks down at the astromech while the former has a cookie in its mouth. R4 attempts to call Theron, but the child Force pushes him into a wall that knocks him down flat.

The little green infant laughs and hops down onto the floor before scurrying away into another room. R4, however, is pissed off that the droid hovers back up straight with his jet boosters on his legs and strolls after him beeping angrily for doing that to him.

**...**

Back at the Midsummer Festival, the teens had recently finished an event up when Theron's stomach rumbles loudly, getting the girls' attention.

"Uhhhh..." He sheepishly chuckles in embarrassment. "Sorry about that, guys. Didn't had time to get a small bite before leaving."

"That's okay. Why don't we all stopped for lunch?" Mikoto announced to everyone.

**To be continued****...**


	26. Act 2: Chapter 13

**Act 2: Chapter 13 - The Midsummer Festival II (Part 2)**

Lunchtime came for the guests of the Midsummer Festival, and our heroes are serving themselves food.

"15 plates of food should be enough." Theron says to himself aloud, literally holding the amount of plates of said food he's carrying.

He then walks over to an empty table and sets them down with the Force gently. After that, he takes a seat and digs in.

When the girls finished serving themselves and noticed Theron's pile of plates on the table, they sweat dropped.

"He's literally eating THAT much food?" Shirai questions in disbelief.

"Well, people do say that they have a second stomach." Uiharu says.

"Tell that to the one who ate over 20 plates in last year's festival." Saten rolls her eyes, recalling one of Yomikawa's Anti-Skill partners getting a stomachache.

"We're going to be over at that table, Saten." Misaka informs. "Go enjoy your date with Theron."

"Right." The Level 0 nods before realizing what she said. "Wait! It's not a-!"

But her friends have already left to find themselves a table to eat lunch at, in which Saten groans in annoyance.

"Great idea, you guys." She sarcastically mumbles with her own plate of food in her hands. "Leaving me alone with him is such a good plan."

Saten walks toward's Theron's table and sits on the other end of it.

"How're you enjoying yourself, Saten?" Theron asks with food in his mouth.

"Good." She answers. "I'm surprised you're eating that much food, Theron."

"Guess I have a second stomach." He shrugs without a care in the world.

"I'm hungry, Touma!" A childish girl's voice exclaims, getting the two teens' attention.

"Come on, Index!" A boy with spiky hair groans in annoyance. "You need to control your appetite! We don't need to keep pressuring Maika from serving you more like last year's festival! There are other people here that need to eat too, ya know!"

"Hey, it's that guy again." Saten said, recognizing the said spiky haired boy.

"Who's that?" The Jedi asks her.

She looks back at Theron after realizing that he's still new around here in Academy City.

"Oh right. Forgot that you're new in this city." She says. "That's the guy I met in last September's Daihasei school sports festival. Touma Kamijou, was it?"

"Wait." He says, immediately recognizing the spiky haired boy. "I think I've seen that guy somewhere before."

"You have?" She excitingly questions him. "Where?"

"On the news. During the final hours of WWIII in October, and that incident in Hawaii a month after." He answers.

"Huh." She says before sitting back down. "Curious."

"What's curious?"

"Oh nothing." She casually shrugs. "It's just that I've heard from Shirai that Misaka sneaked out of Academy City to follow her boyfriend out to those locations you've told me about."

"Boyfriend?" He raises an eyebrow. "There's nothing special about a Japanese boy running around in a warzone, ready to get himself killed in action."

Saten glares at him for what he just said.

"Hey, just because he's a Level 0 doesn't always mean he's Force sensitive like us." She lectures him. "Trust me, I've been there before. And it nearly cost me my own life."

"What do you mean?"

Saten only looks away, not wanting to bring up her troubled past experiences as it still traumatizes her. Somewhat, but still.

"I'm sorry." He apologizes when he sees her face filled with regret and dread. "I shouldn't have asked you that."

"No, no!" She waves her hands defensively. "You have nothing to apologize for. If you don't want to talk about your past with me, then I won't either. At least, until we're ready to do so when that time comes."

"Thanks, Saten." He smiles at her.

"No problem, Theron. What are friends for?" She smiles back at him.

The two then look in the direction of Touma who is with a nun in white attire.

"Who's that nun with him, by the way?"

The rumor hunting girl only shrugs, wondering the same thing as he is.

"Not sure." She shrugs again. "I don't remember seeing her with him. Not to mention, I've never seen a sister from outside Academy City before."

"Isn't there a church here, though?"

"I think so. Something about being a safe haven or an embassy of sorts for its members?"

"Huh." He simply says, a little suspicious of the nun and spiky haired boy. "He does look like a shonen character, though."

"Right?" She agrees with him. "It must be the spiky hair he's sporting. I wonder if he's born like that."

"Saten, this is the real world." He deadpans. "This isn't Dragon Ball."

"Hai, hai." She casually waves his statement off before putting a finger on her lip in speculation. "I wonder what the readers are thinking right now about this?"

"Uh, who are you talking about?" He asks.

"Them."

"Who's them?"

"You know, the-. Actually, nevermind. It's kinda complicated. Though honestly, I'm not sure myself since maybe I'm not breaking the fourth wall at all."

Theron sweat drops at her weirdness.

"Oh, hey there Zapper." Touma said, now noticing Mikoto with all her friends.

"Idio- I mean Touma, I told you to stop calling me that!" Mikoto exclaims with a deep blush on her face, and becoming red as a ruby.

"Oh, hey Mikoto." The young silver haired nun said with a smile.

"Hey Index."

How are they close, you ask? Sometime after last December's incident in England, Touma and Mikoto became closer than before, and both Index and the Railgun no longer hate each other. And by close, I mean them finally becoming a young couple the Kamikoto shippers have been waiting for. Though the reason why Index and Touma aren't together together is because her nun status won't allow her to have a romantic relationship with him, and knows that Mikoto has a better chance to be with the misfortunate boy than the silver haired girl herself, just like Mental Out and all the other girls that ended up falling for him. Thankfully, she and Touma managed to keep it a secret for the time being to avoid the wrath of Shirai's teleportation. And the rest... well, use your own imagination.

"Keep your hands off my Sissy, troglodyte!" Shirai snarls as she leaps forward between the secret couple.

Touma had a look of fear on his face while Mikoto is annoyed with her antics before she electrocutes her, restraining the perverted Teleporter.

"Knock it off, Kuroko!" She lectures while blushing. "I'm sick and tired of you attacking him whenever I'm with him!"

"With him?!" Shirai berates. "No, no, no, no, no, no! It can't be true! Please tell me you're not dating this barbarian!"

"It's not like that at all!"

"Then why call him by his first name then?!"

"Shirai, I swear on my life that she's telling the truth!" Touma lies for his and Mikoto's own sake, blushing. "We're close, but not THAT close. You understand, right?"

"Hmm." Shirai suspiciously eyes the two teens before dropping the subject. "Alright, you two are off the hook as long as you're not thinking about being romantically involved."

The two nervously nod and chuckle at each other. Meanwhile, Saten and Uiharu in relief as Theron's confused.

"Uh, can someone explain what's going on here?" He whispers to the Sakugawa girls.

"Shirai has a love obsession with Misaka, and ends up assaulting Kamijou whenever he's around her." Saten whispers back without Shirai knowing.

"Is that normal?"

"You could say that." Uiharu answers with a sweat drop.

"Well I don't tolerate perversion." He admits, still annoyed by her perverted advancements on Misaka. "She could end up suspended from Judgement if someone saw her like this out in public."

"I'm surprised she hasn't yet." The long haired girl concurs with a shrug.

"And even if Shirai is reported for her behavior, she has little chance of being kicked out of Judgement because of her reputation as a skilled and experienced officer, and that they need her." The Level 1 further states for him.

"But she needs to be made an example. Her actions must have consequences." He points out.

"You have a point, but how can we make her stop?"

Unfortunately, the three that are huddled together are interrupted.

"Uh, what are you three whispering about?" Shirai suspiciously questions.

They perk up in panic and turned around to face her.

"Oh! Uh, nothing! We were just talking about stuff, that's all." Uiharu nervously chuckles.

"Yeah! What Uiharu says!" Saten does the same as her.

"I have spoken." Theron says with his arms crossed.

"Hmm." The Teleporter keeps eyeing them for anything out of the ordinary but sighs and gives up.

Just then, Touma notices Theron and walks up to him.

"Oh, I didn't see you there." The unlucky boy says. "You must be Misaka's new friend that just moved in here.

"Yep! Mikoto told me all about you."

"Everything?" Theron questions as he eyes Mikoto.

She nods to him as she hasn't told Touma about Theron being from space and about the Empire, mainly because he doesn't need to be pressured about it while he's trying to keep his grades from falling behind.

Touma nodded, and the young nun, now known as Index, walked up to Theron and smiled at him.

"Oh, hello there." Theron politely greets.

"Nice to meet you. My name's Index." She greets back.

"Theron Skywalker. A pleasure meeting you too."

**...**

After lunch, the group are walking down the halls when Theron notices something outside through the window.

"Hey, what's that outside?" Theron asked, while looking outside.

"Oh, that's an auction." Shirai explains.

"I can see that, Shirai" He deadpans.

"They did this last year too." Misaka said.

"And the year before that." Saten butts in. "Though honestly, this is my second time to be at this festival."

"Say, is that Konori?" Theron said, now noticing the Judgment officer outside.

The group looks outside to see Konori carrying more purses in her hands.

"Wha- Again!?" Saten said, shocked.

A few moments later, they went outside to talk to the chief judgement officer.

"Hey there, Konori." Saten greets.

"Wha-? You guys!" Konori exclaims. "And Saten, that's a beautiful dress you have. It suits you."

"Why thank you. By the way, you're getting more purses, I see?"

"Huh?"

"I know it's for charity and all, but I know that's not the only reason." Saten mischievously grins.

Konori was blushing madly from that comment.

"I told you, that's not true!"

"I can tell you're lying. I can read your emotions like Theron, remember?"

"Oh right, I completely forgot." Konori sighed in defeat.

"Saten, please don't tell me you're using your powers for stupid reasons." Theron facepalms at her for misusing the Force for petty reasons.

"Weeeeelllllll... maybe a little." She sheepishly chuckles.

"Wait, I thought Saten was a Level Zero." Touma states in confusion.

Misaka nervously steps in and lies.

"We're talking about her woman's intuition, that's all."

Touma and Index blinked in confusion. They don't get what she means but decided to just accept her answer.

Meanwhile, Theron turns toward the Acution and saw that they started on a bid that caught something interesting in his eyes. However, he quickly looks away when Saten came up next to him.

"You're thinking about bidding on something, Theron?"

"Who me? Nah." He lies. "Don't think I have the money."

"But I saw you having your eyes on those items over there."

"No you didn't." He says before slyly looking at the auction.

"You're doing it again!"

"Nuh uh."

"Yes, you are." Saten deadpans.

"Nope."

"Are you trying to press my buttons?" She questions, annoyed and getting angered by his trolling.

"You didn't see anything." He avoids her question, frustrating the girl even more.

"I don't know what's going on in that head yours, you know."

"We'll start the bidding at 100." The student in charge of the auction announces.

"200!"

"300!"

"400!"

"1000!"

"2,000!"

"3000!"

"4000!"

"2 bits."

Everyone looked at Theron in surprise.

He then tosses a small pouch onto the table on stage that's across him.

"Going once. Twice. and sold, to the young gentleman in the back."

The student then opens it and is shocked in seeing a small amount of Krayt Dragon pearls.

"T-This is-! A single one of these pearls I've never seen before is worth a small fortune." She announces, holding one in her hand.

"WHAT?!!!" Everyone screamed.

Theron walks past the students and walks up on stage before snatching the old relics.

"Have a wonderful day, miss." He grins at the auction girl, being so smug at winning the bid with ease while walking off stage.

Thank his bounty hunting work, though. It took those last few years to earn that amount of Earth money in dollars and convert it into Japanese yen.

"Worth... a small... fortune?" Saten stutters.

"Who knew that you were THAT rich?" Uiharu questions, dumbstrucked.

"I look for work." He shrugs.

Saten then notices the stuff in the opened box. It's mostly books inside.

"Hey Theron, what are those?" She curiously whispers a question to him.

"I'll tell you later." He whispers back at her.

**...**Soon, the Midsummer Festival was finally over, and Touma and Index are heading back home.

"Nice meeting you, Kamijou." Theron says. "Hope that we meet again."

"Yeah. Me too." He nods with a smile before walking away. "Come on Index, let's head back home."

"Coming, Touma!" The nun answers, following the unlucky boy who accidentally trips on a can in the distance.

"Rotten luck." He laments his trademark catchphrase.

Theron's eye twitches at that unexpected moment.

"Is he gonna be okay?" He asks.

"He'll be fine." Mikoto casually answers. "He's pretty much faced a lot of bad luck in his life. Literally."

"He's THAT unlucky?" He further questions, a bit shocked that he's literally cursed with misfortune.

"I don't know." She shrugs, even though she already knows. "The Idiot always complains about it."

"Now with that ape is gone," Shirai changes the topic. "What's that you're holding, Theron?"

The girls then look at the box the Jedi's holding.

"Do you have somewhere we can look at this from prying eyes?" He suggests in question.

**To be continued...**


	27. Act 2: Chapter 14

**Act 2: Chapter 14 - Galactic History 101: The Old Republic and Jedi Order** **Origins**

A few minutes later, the group is already inside Mikoto and Shirai's room as the box full of books is placed on the small table between the beds. Saten, Uiharu, and Theron are sitting on Shirai's bed while Shirai is sitting on Mikoto's bed with her roommate herself.

"Thanks for letting bringing this in your room, Shirai and Misaka." He appreciates the two Tokiwadai roomates.

"Not at all." Shirai says. "It's much easier to do it here than somewhere else. Plus, the less prying eyes, the better."

"Aside from that," Uiharu begins. "What exactly are those books that caught your eye at the festival's auction?"

"Yeah." Saten agrees as she looks through the pages written in alien language. "I can't read what it says."

"It's in Basic." Theron says in English.

Uiharu and Saten know very little English to understand what he's saying. However, Shirai and Mikoto are fluent in it due to their enrollment in special Tokiwadai courses.

"But your speaking in English." Mikoto points out in English with no traces of a Japanese accent, clearly not understanding why he's speaking it.

"Basic and English are the same thing." He explains. "It's that English is just another written form of Basic, like Basic is another written form of English."

"Great." Saten whines. "Now I have to worry about learning two forms of the same language England and America speak in."

"I can teach you how to speak English if you and Uiharu want." He offers. "It'll help make things go faster under my tutelage."

"Really?!" Saten beams with excitement and relief. "Thank you so much!"

"We'd love to, Theron." Uiharu accepts his offer as well.

"Right." He nods as he takes the book out of Saten's hands to translate for them. "Don't worry, Shirai and Misaka. Once I've taught Uiharu and Saten English, I'll teach the four of you and Konori how to read Basic."

"Very appreciated." Mikoto nods in thanks.

"No problem." The Jedi smiles before changing the subject back to the books. "Anyway, I think we should start with the earliest records of galactic history."

"What does the book read?" Saten asks her crush.

He quickly reads through it and closes it.

"Okay, I think I got it all remembered the last time my master taught me about it." He says aloud before starting from the beginning. "25,000 years ago in my galaxy (25,000 BBY), the discovery of hyperspace travel and first contact with different sentient races became a reality as hyperspace was inspired by the purgil."

"Purgil?" The girls interrupted.

"Giant space whales with the ability to jump into hyperspace. It's how we get around the Galaxy much quicker than old fashioned space traveling." He explains as they have shocked expressions. "Ahem!"

"Soon, a galactic power rose, opening trade and diplomacy to almost any star system in the Galaxy. They were called the Old Republic."

"You mentioned them before. This was before the Galactic Republic, right?" Uiharu recalls.

"Yeah." He confirms before continuing. "Not long after its establishment, the discovery of the Force brought scientists, philosophers, and devotees from all over known space and they dedicate their lives into studying its mysteries, while swearing to protect the Old Republic and the rest of the Galaxy through peace. Thus, the Jedi Order was born. The Jedi relied on the light side of the Force, using it only for defense. Believing that emotions are a distraction to their mission in defending the Republic and the Galaxy, the Jedi forbids attachment and acting out on emotions, good or bad."

"Wait. Are you saying that the Jedi are emotionless? Not even love?" Saten questions in disbelief. "But that's stupid! Having emotions makes us who we are! Makes us human!"

"That's one of the reasons why the light side can corrupt the Jedi just as much as the dark side can do the same thing." He agrees with her argument. "Like the Dark, the light side can make you arrogant. However, instead of becoming power hungry and selfish, the Light makes you believe that you're always right about everything you know and become hypocritical to what you do that's against your morals."

"So the Jedi ars self-righteous, arrogant hypocrites?" Shirai deduces, disgusted with how the Jedi operate.

"Yes. But that was much, MUCH later." He nods.

"Is that why you're not considered as one of them, but you're still Jedi?" Uiharu curiously asks.

Theron sighs and looks down, getting his friends to look at him.

"It's my own damn fault." He says. "My naivete got my master killed when I was only eleven."

"What do you mean?" The Level 0 worryingly asks.

The boy hesitates but decides to continue.

"Remember when I said about how my master and I were never involved in the war? Well... it was during my early teachings. He taught me how the Jedi were supposed to be independent and that we're supposed to loyal to the people of the Galaxy, not just the Republic. But I didn't fully understand him and only believed that the Jedi would never ignore a call for help from neutral worlds while defending the Republic in my time. So I ignored what he said to me. And then... everything changed. The Jedi were accused of treason and-."

"They were all hunted down by the Empire." Mikoto finishes his sentence with dread as she and her friends know about this from him earlier.

He nods while continuing to look down.

"By the time I realize what my master warned me about... it was too late."

"What happened?" Saten asks.

"The Empire founded us three years after the Jedi were hunted down. My master tried fighting back and had the upper hand but... he lowered his guard when seeing me, and was cut down."

The girls see tears dripping down on his pants as he continues.

"I failed. Because I was naive. A fool. I should've died with my master."

"Theron, how could you say that?!" Saten shouts at him. "He gave his life to save you!"

"And what good would it do if I don't know what place I have in life?!" He angrily shouts.

His friends became a little scared at his little outburst, not noticing his eyes turning yellow. Theron realizes that he shouldn't have done that and his eyes turn back to brown.

"I'm sorry." He apologizes before getting up off the bed and storms out of the room.

"Theron, wait!" Saten calls out to him but he was already gone.

**...**

A few hours hours passed and nightfall has already come. Theron has finished running off, not wanting to face the girls. Not even Saten since he knows that girl likes to push his buttons for the truth. Could he really trust her about his past? About what happened on Mustafar? Or even him?

Shaking his head, he ventures through School District 21's nature park. Theron hears the wind howl by as he walks through the forest of the park, and looks up at the moon illuminating its light down on the Earth before clouds start covering the night sky, thunder rumbling.

The Jedi throws on his hood and pull his neck scarf over his mouth as he continues walking. Then all of the sudden, he senses a disturbance in the Force, stopping in his tracks.

Turning around, Theron is now face to face with a familiar figure, fog surrounding him.

"No." He denies as his eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible."

Slow raspy breathing echoes in the forest as it is none other than Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith himself. Standing six feet and eight inches tall, Vader ignites his red lightsaber and starts walking toward the young Jedi.

Theron quickly reaches out and Force freezes the Sith Lord in place. However, Vader easily breaks free from it and looks around, impressed that he's improved.

"Impressive... Theron." He says before walking towards him.

The boy attempts to Force freeze him again. Unfortunately, Vader is still walking towards him as his raspy breathing continues to be heard loudly. Fear was building up in Theron.

Theron unholsters his lightsaber and ignites an unstable red blade and two quillons on opposite sides that made a loud howling sound instead of a hiss one. The boy looks at his blade in shock, and learns that he's somehow in possession of a crossguard lightsaber.

He then looks back at Vader and twirls the flame-like laser sword, and engages him in combat. Their red blades trade blow by blow with the Dark Lord using only one hand, blocking Theron's attacks with ease. Theron continues to attack him, who then easily sidesteps each missed strike and changes catches him with their blades now locked with each other.

Vader then pushes Theron and his blade back, and walks toward him as his shadow hovers over the boy. It's his turn now.

Using his brute strength and the Dark Side, Vader switches to Form V - his primary and most reliable lightsaber form - slams his blade hard on the Jedi's to break his defenses. Their blades are then saber locked and moments later, Vader's blade redirects Theron's into a tree, pushing the Jedi back as his hood fell off.

Theron pulls down the neck scarf over his mouth and watches in the small distance as the tree with lightsaber marks collapses, creating a large cloud of fog that separates the two duelers. It became quiet and Theron keep his guard up, gripping the crossguard lightsaber in his hand.

But suddenly, he was caught off guard when Vader's lightsaber spins toward the boy, and Theron barely deflects the Sith's weapon away which in turn caused him to stagger back, breaking his guard. The Sith's lightsaber turns off automatically, and the hilt twirls vertically back into Vader's hand.

"There is no escape." Vader says.

He reignites his red lightsaber and walks toward the boy. Frightened and angry, Theron grits his teeth and tightens his grip on the crossguard hilt. He swings the unstable blade and Vader retaliates with a saber lock again.

Sparks fly off of Theron's unstable blade as theh continue to be locked in with their lightsabers as Vader directs their blades to his left. Seeing an opening, the Jedi deactivates his blade, causing Vader to lose his balance, and the boy reignites his saber, landing a blow onto the Dark Lord's right durasteel pauldron.

"Argh!" Vader exclaims.

Had enough letting this pointless duel continue, Vader instantly Force lifts him in the air and freezes Theron in place after the Jedi dropped the crossguard hilt.

Vader moves up to him with his hand telekinetically freezing the boy in the air and stops in front of him.

"You disappoint me, Theron." Vader says with no remorse before deactivating his lightsaber and holstering it before turning around, looking away. "Perhaps you are not as strong as I hoped. Now your failure leaves me with no other choice..."

He turns his head back at him.

"...but to destroy you." He finishes.

Vader slowly faces toward Theron and proceeds to Force choke him. The boy couldn't move as the Sith's freezing technique is so much stronger than his own, and that Vader is easily choking the life out of him with only his thumb and index finger. He's just too strong for him.

"It is pointless to resist." The Dark Lord says as he presses his thumb and index finger closer to each other, tightening his Force choke on the Jedi and slowly crushing his throat.

Theron notices the crossguard lightsaber hilt behind Vader, and he hasn't noticed what the boy's attempting to do. Using whatever willpower he has left, Theron uses his mind to lift the hilt and fly towards the Sith, igniting the unstable red blade and impaling him from behind.

Then there was silence. Vader looks down and sees that the blade has impaled him from behind. Dropping onto his knees, Vader releases his hold on the boy, who then gasps for air as he is on his knees trying to regain his energy.

Meanwhile, Vader's raspy breathing has changed as he struggles to breathe properly with the lightsaber still lodged into him from behind. Theron gets up and Force summons Vader's lightsaber in his hand as he goes behind the severely injured and beaten Sith Lord.

Theron looks at the hilt and lifts it up, igniting the stable red blade that illuminates his face with red. He then looks at the Sith Lord and without hesitation, the boy raises the blade and decapitates him, and the headless body collapses onto the grass.

The Jedi drops onto his knees and pants.

"Are you okay?" A familiar voice asks him.

Theron looks up and turns around to see it's Saten, who has been looking for him since the entire afternoon. Wait. She doesn't notice Vader's headless corpse.

He quickly turns around to where thd body and head is, but is shocked to find out that it's not there. And what's left is Theron's own lightsaber hilt instead of the crossguard variant. He then looks in his right hand and sees that Vader's lightsaber is no longer there as the boy's hand is instead clenched into a fist.

_"It was just an illusion." Theron dedices in his thoughts._

"Theron?" Saten asks him again, now worried.

"Yeah." He answers without looking at her as he calls his hilt back into his hand and holster it. "I'm fine."

"You're not." She says. "Your emotions were signaled in my thoughts. It's how I I found you since your communicator was off."

The boy gets up and looks at her with a shocked expression.

"You can... read my thoughts?" He questions.

"Not... entirely." She nervously explains. "You still have your mental barriers up, but it sent out what you were feeling about."

"How long has this been happening?" He asks.

"For around two days. Why? Is it really important?"

"Saten..." He begins with shocked tone in his voice. "I think we just formed a Force bond."

**...**

"A Force... what?" She asks him again.

They are on a train for School District 7 as they sat next to each other. It was already past curfew and Theron needs to take her back to the district before heading home in the city outskirts. During the train ride, Saten brought along the books he left back at the Tokiwadai dormitory and gave them back to them.

"A Force bond." He begins explaining to the girl. "It's a link between two Force users that allows them to influence each other. It allows communication of feelings, thoughts and images across distances and could even grant greater coordination in battle."

"That's so cool!" She says in awe before realizing something. "Wait. Is that how you heard my thoughts all over the place?"

"Yep."

Saten nods as she understands some of what he's talking about. But she becomes concerned about what happened earlier before he ran off.

"Theron, about what happened earlier, I-."

"You don't need to apologize. I shouldn't have yelled at you and the others like that."

"Okay." She understands again. "But you're not alone in this. And about my decision of wanting to learn how to use the Force? My answer's yes."

"Are you sure? If you do this, there's no backing out."

"Yes. I want to learn the ways of the Force so I can use it to protect my friends." She answers with determination.

The train then stops at a station in School District 7 and Saten exits the train. However, she turns around and smiles at Theron standing by the door of the train car.

"I had a wonderful time today." She admits. "I hope we can do this again soon."

"School District 23, my place. In the city outskirts up north. Your training starts tomorrow afternoon."

"I'll be there."

"Good night then."

"Night."

Saten then turns around and runs off to her apartment as the train takes Theron home.

"That was really fun." She says to herself on her way home. "Looks like things are going to be different soon."

**...**Theron opens the door to his home and enters inside to see that it's a complete mess.

"What the hell happened here?" He mutters aloud.

Just then, he sees the little green infant holding tightly to his leg, cooing for attention.

"Great." He sighs as he picks the baby up and carries him into another room before coming back to start cleaning up the mess the child made. "R4's got a lot of explaining to do when I'm done here."

**To be continued...**


	28. Interlude I (Part 3)

**Interlude (Part 3):** **Freedom comes at a** **Cost**

**32 BBY**

**Tatooine**

**Mos Espa**

**_"So this is the Boonta Eve Classic, huh?" Theron ponders at his surroundings while sitting in the crowd booths. "What I don't get is how the hell can Anakin - at this point in his childhood - pilot one of the most fastest and most dangerous vehicles in the Galaxy."_**

_The Boonta Eve Classic was the most dangerous race Anakin had ever flown in. Vicious, free-for-all competition, and more than one racer became victim to the high-speed turns, rocky obstacles, and dirty tricks of their dastardly adversaries.__When the announcers finished introducing the racers, who are finishing getting their pod racers on the starting grid, they mention the race's main spectator and Tatooine's vile crime lord, Jabba the Hutt._

Looking_ up at a monitor screen, Theron sees the Hutt at the balcony of his own booth._

**_"I know that he's a crime lord and all, but a spectator for one of the most dangerous sports in the Galaxy? I really find that hard to believe." The boy comments with a deadpan._**

_"Welcome." Jabba, the talking space slug, says to the large crowd in his native Huttese language. "Begin the race!"_

_Immediately, the racers have started their engines and their pod racers roar to life as the pit crews clear the starting grid. Meanwhile, Anakin presses a few buttons to make several adjustments to his pod racer while gripping the two control handles tightly.__At the sound of the starting signal, Anakin guns his engines like the other racers but his pod racer's turbines suddenly went dead. The boy peers through his goggles to see the other pilots blasting off of the starting grid towards the Starlite Flats, leaving him gasping in their dust._

_"Ho, ho, wait! Little Skywalker has stalled!" The Basic Announcer comments with a snicker, earning a few laughs from the crowd._

**_"Goddamn it." Theron facepalms at the unexpected moment._**

Theron_ then notices another pilot having engine trouble as well. He paid no mind to it but keeps his focus on Anakin, who finally got his engines to work again and launches him and his vehicle out of Mos Espa Arena at top speed.__"And there goes Skywalker." The Announcer says._ "He'll be hard pressed to catch up with the leaders."

**_"_****_Thank God." Theron sighs in relief. "It might've been a short race if he didn't get going quickly."_**

_Soaring through the twisting chasms and over broad flats, Anakin managed to catch up with the othrt Podracers during the first lap. As the towering rock formations that dotted Mushroom Mesa whipped past him, he caught the scent of burning fuel a split second before he saw the scattered, smoking remains of the green-engined Pod that had been piloted by a Gran. Somehow, he knew in his gut that a Dug named Sebulba was responsible for the crash, and had no illusions that the poor Gran had survived._

After_ passing through a few obstacles, Anakin enters a complex cave with the other pilots and managed to get out of there in one piece. On the canyon dune turns, Anakin and the pilots are being shot at by Tusken Raiders in the distance with their dramatic rifle raising-in-the-air posing._

**...**

**_"I still don't get why Tuskens are doing that pose so dramatically with their rifles." Theron comments, shaking his head._**

Meanwhile_, as for the other pilot have engine trouble, one of the turbines explode and sends him flying up in the air. Theron had to sweatdrop at that._

**_"That's definitely not gonna come out of my allowance." He says._**

Moments_ later, the Podracers fly past the starting grid and another pilot pulls into the pitstop, which led a pitdroid getting sucked in by one of the Podracer's engines explodes. Somehow, the droid survived and was in perfect condition._

**_"Annnd there goes another one." Theron says. "Jeez, this race is turning into a joke fest for everyone."_**

_Finally, Anakin's Podracer arrives and hurtles past the crowds, already entering the second lap of the race._

**_"Only two laps left. Got a lot of catching up, Anakin."_**

**...**

_As Anakin's Pod shot out of Beggar's Canyon, he caught sight of another Podracer behind Sebulba's. Suddenly, one of the racer's engines exploded, and a moment later, his Pod was flying in all directions. Anakin plunged his own vehicle dangerously close to the ground in a desperate effort to evade the fiery, airborne debris, but one large chunk of stray metal struck the steelton control cable that linked his Pod to his starboard engine. The control cable broke free, and Anakin's Pod - now linked only to the port engine - began spinning out of control.__Straining against the belts of his cockpit, Anakin tightened his neck muscles and clenched his teeth to prevent his head from snapping back. He sensed he was still traveling forward, and knew that the only reason he hadn't crashed so far was because the energy binder arc between the two engines had not yet failed._

As_ the Tatooine surface blurred and spiraled around him, he punched at his controlsto stabilize the Pod, then reached for his extendable magnetic retriever. He reached out with the tool, aiming its tip at the metal end of the starboard control cable that whipped and flailed alongside his cockpit. There was a satisfying clank as the retriever locked onto the cable's end. Anakin felt his arm strain as he pulled back on the cable, then thrust the toold directly into the starboard cable socket. An instant later, he'd regained control of his Pod._

However_, his momentary loss of control allowed the remaining other pilots to pass him, and Sebulba was still in the lead. Anakin then picks up his speed, going faster._

Eventually_, he finally caught up with the cruel Dug, but he flashed his engines directly in front of the human boy. Anakin's pod fell back, but he was still in second place as he followed Sebulba again through Mos Espa Arena._

**...**

**_"One more to go." Theron says as he smirks. "Never thought Anakin had this much potential as a pilot. Color me impressed."_**

**...**

_On the final lap, Anakin kept on Sebulba's tail through the course, and was almost directly behind him when they began swerving through the narrow confines of Beggar's Canyon. Sebulba swung hard to the side, forcing Anakin onto a service ramp._

_His Pod is sent flying upwards out of the track. Luckily, Anakin brought it back down to ground level and even managed to get in front of Sebulba, now in second place._

_However, it was short-lived when Anakin's left engine over-heated and began billowing smoke. The boy's nimble fingers quickly adjusted the controls to correct the malfunction, but as the two Pods blasted out of Devil's Doorknob and over the final stretch of Hutt Flats,Sebulba began ramming Anakin from the side in a last nasty effort to force him out of the race._

_The Dug slammed into him again, but instead of knocking the boy off course, the two Pods' steering rods became tangled and locked onto each other. Anakin glanced at Sebulba and saw the Dug frowning. If they remained locked in this position all the way over the finish line, the race would be a tie, Anakin knew that would never happen._

_And so, Anakin jostled his throttle levers back and forth, hoping to break free. Then came a loud snap as Anakin's Pod breaks free from Sebulba's, and then the Dug's engines exploded._

_Sebulba shouted as his shattered Pod began crashing through the sand; Anakin swerved to avoid the debris then accelerated for the finish line._

**...**

_"The crowds are going nuts!" The announcer exclaims as he and his co announcer chant in unison._

_The whole crowds chants with excitement as Anakin's Pod pulls up and the boy gets out of his cockpit to see the crowd all gathered around him, chanting in unison for winning the race. Qui-Gon was in the crowd who smiled proudly at the boy and lifts him up onto his shoulder and Anakin whoops loudly, excited that he won._

_Meanwhile, Theron was smiling in the booths._

**_"He did it." He proudly grins before he realizes something. "Wait. Not only that Anakin is the first human to pilot a Podracer, he's the very first human to win a Podrace. And survived! Holy shit! Why didn't I hear anything as cool as this before?!"_**

_His moment was short lived again when the vision goes white, changing the scene once more._

**_..._**

_The vision changes to Anakin talking to a few kids his age about him winning the race. No doubt he's boasting about it. But then a young Rodian, speaking Huttese, said, "Too bad you didn't win fair and square."_

_Anakin glared at the Rodian and said, "You're calling me a cheater?"_

_"Yeah." The Rodian answers. "No other way a human could've wpn. I'm guessing you probably-."_

_Before the Rodian could say another word, Anakin had knocked him down into the sandy street. The other kids began shouting as Anakin straddled the Rodian and began punching him._

**_"And THIS is why I learned to tolerate racism and accusations from other species." Theron facepalms at the scene he's witnessing._**

_Only a few blows had been exchanged before a long shadow appeared over both boys. Distracted, Anakin glanced up to see Qui-Gon standing beside him. A moment later, the Rodian shovshoved Anakin off of him._

_Gazing down at Anakin, Qui- Gon flatly says, "What's this all about?"_

_"He said I cheated." Anakin glowered._

_Keeping his eyes fixed on him, Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows slightly. and said, "Did you?"_

_"No!" Anakin snaps at the Jedi Master._

**_"Anakin, people have different opinions about one thing or the other. You have to learn to man up and tolerate it." Theron comments in annoyance at the stupidest reason Anakin started the fist fight, even though Anakin can't see and hear the teen that's watching the past. "So much potential, yet so dumb. At least use your brain for once."_**

_Unruffled, Qui-Gon looked to the Rodian and asked, "Do you still think he cheated?"_

_"Yes, I do." The Rodian nods._

_As Anakin pushed himself up from the ground, Qui-Gon said, "Well, Ani. You know the truth. You'll just have to tolerate his opinion. Fighting won't change it."_

**_"Told ya so." Theron gloats proudly at the vision._**

**...**

_As they walked back to Anakin's home, Qui-Gon explains that repairs were already underway to Queen Amidala's ship, and that he'd sold Anakin's Pod._

**_"So they finally got the parts, huh?" Theron deduces. "Good for them. Wait. What about Anakin? How'd he get out of slavery and became a Jedi that I use to idolize?"_**

_Handing a small pouch filled with credits to Anakin, Qui-Gon says, "Hey. These are yours."_

_"Yes!" Anakin exclaims, feeling the weight of the pouch full of money._

_The two enter inside Anakin's home and the boy finds his mother sitting at her worktable._

_"Mom, we sold the Pod!" He cries out with joy. "Look at all the money we have!"_

_"My goodness!" Shmi says as her son reveals pouch's contents to her. "But that's so wonderful, Ani!"_

_"And he has been freed." The Jedi Master added._

_"What?!" Anakin questions, wondering if he'd heard right._

_"You're no longer a slave." Qui-Gon elaborates._

_Slightly stunned by this unexpected news, Anakin looks back to his mother._

_"Did you hear that?"_

_"Now you can make your dreams come true, Ani." She says with a sad smile. "You are free."_

_She then sighs and looks down at the floor._

**_"At least Anakin gets to be happy as a freed man. But what about Shmi? Is she freed as well? She should be a bit more happy."_**

_Theron's question is answered as Shmi turns her gaze to Qui-Gon._

_"Will you take him with you? Is he to become a Jedi?"_

_"Yes. Our meeting was not a coincidence. Nothing happens by accident."_

"You mean, I get to come with you in your starship?" Anakin excitingly asks.

"Anakin," Qui-Gon begins after kneeling down to the boy's level. "training to become a Jedi is not an easy challenge, and even if you succeed, it's a hard life."

**_"True that." Theron agrees with his words before muttering to himself. "Except that becoming a Jedi - in their Order, not mine - means suppressing and disregarding your emotions and attachments. Really kriffing stupid and annoying as balls."_**

_"But I wanna go!" Anakin says. "It's what I've dreamed of doing." He then looks at his mother. "Can I go, Mom?"_

_Shmi smiled._

_"Anakin, this path has been placed before you. The choice id yours alone."_

_Anakin hesitates for a moment, then says to Qui-Gon, "I wanna do it."_

_"Then pack your things. We haven't much time."_

_"Yippee!" Anakin shouts as he head for his room, but stopped dead in his tracks. "What about Mom? Is she free, too?"_

_"I tried to free your mother, Ani, but Watto wouldn't have it."_

**_"Oh." Theron looks down in disappointment. "Guess we can't always have everything, eh."_**

_"You're not coming with us, aren't you, Mom?"_

_Still seated beside her worktable, Shmi reached ot and took Anakin's hands in hers._

_"Son, my place is here. My future is here. It is time for you to let go."_

_Anakin frowns._

_"I don't want things to change."_

_"But you can't stop the change," She says. "any more than you can stop the suns from setting." She then pulls her son closeand hugs him tightly. "Oh, I love you." She says before letting go of him. "Now hurry."_

_Anakin trots off into his room, leaving her and Qui-Gon alone._

_"Thank you." She says to the Jedi Master._

_"I'll watch after him." He promises. "You have my word." Qui-Gon then places hand on her shoulder. "You gonna be alright?"_

_"Yeah." She answers._

**...**

_In his room, Anakin reactivates an endoskeleton of a protocol droid and a moment later, the droid's eyes winked on.__"Oh!" He says, wobbling slightly as if he were surprised to find himself in a standing position. "Oh, my. Oh! Hello, Master Anakin."_

_As Anakin gathered up some of his belongings, he says, "Well, Threepio, I've been freed, and I'm going away in a starship."_

_"Master Anakin, you are my maker, and I wish you well." The droid named C-3PO says. "However, I should prefer it if I were a little more... completed."_

_"I'm sorry I wasn't able to finish you, Threepio, give you coverings and all." Anakin says as he stuffs some things into a travel sack. "I'm gonna miss working on you. You've been a great pal." Anakin then slung the pack over his shoulder, then added, "I'll make sure Mom doesn't sell you or anything."_

_C-3PO's head recoiled slightly._

"_Sell me?!"_

_"Bye." Anakin says he left the room._

_"Oh, my!" The droid exclaims from behind._**_"_**

**_Heh, heh, heh." Theron snickers to himself at the comedic moment. "At least the protocol droid's still naked with wires showing and all."_**

**...**

_Outside of the hovel, Shmi watches her son off with Qui-Gon until the boy stopped walking. He then turned and ran back to his mother. Shmi dropped toher knees and held Anakin tightly._

_"I can't do it, Mom." He cries, failing to fight back his tears. "I just can't do it."_

_"Ani." Shmi says, holding him at arm's length so she could see his pained face._

_"Will I ever see you again?" He sobbed._

_"What does your heart tell you?"_

_Anakin tried to listen to his heart, but all he sensed was its ache._

_"I hope so." He says, then added, "Yes... I guess."_

_"Then we will see each other again."_

_Anakin swallowed hard._

_"I will come back and free you, Mom. I promise."_

**[The Force theme (The Phantom Menace variant) plays]**

_Shmi smiles at his son._

_"Now be brave, and don't look back." She says. "Don't look back."_

_Anakin did as his mother instructed, lowering his gaze to the sandy streets as he follows Qui-Gon away from the hovels. He trudged forward, trying to keep up with Qui-Gon's measured strides. He choked back a sob as his mother watches his son off._

_Meanwhile, Theron held back a few tears of his own as he watches on the sidelines._

**_"Why do I get the feeling that their reunion wouldn't be a pleasant and happy one?" He wonders. "Still... I never really knew my parents. I was only an infant when my master took me in and practically raised me. I still wished he was alive though. Could really use his advice right about now."_**

_The scene changes again as his vision goes white._

**...**

_Theron is now in the middle of the desert as he now sees a long, sleek ship in the distance._

**_"That must be the Queen's ship." He deduces. "A Nubian type. Guess I was right about her being from Naboo, alright."_**

_Theron turns around and sees Anakin and Qui-Gon in the short distance running towards the ship. However, Anakin was lagging behind._

_"Qui-Gon, sir, wait!" He yells. "I'm tired!"_

_Qui-Gon spun around and shouted, "Anakin! Drop!"_

_Theron looks to the side and he jumps a bit when a black hooded figure jumps out of his scythe-shaped speeder bike and ignites a red blade from his long, length lightsaber hilt while back flipping over Qui-Gon who blocked just in time with his own green bladed lightsaber._

_"Go!" The Jedi Master shouts at Anakin while focusing on blocking and parrying the dark assailant. "Tell them to take off!"_

_Anakin obeys the Jedi without question and ran towards the ship in the short distance._

**_"What the hell just happened?!" Theron questions himself, confused and surprised by the attacker that came out of nowhere._**

_Theron got a good look at the hooded figure's face though. His face is covered in red and black markings as they're literally tattoos on his own face along with glowing yellow eyes with red bloodshot around the rims of the eye color that symbolizes the figure who uses the dark side of the Force._

**_"They're Dathomir in origin." Theron analyzes. "A Nightbrother Zabrak. But this guy's well-trained with the dark side. Too well-trained."_**

_Theron was correct as the hooded assailant attacks Qui-Gon with ferocious speed and power. The Jedi Master was having difficulty of defending himself as it isn't his strong suit in lightsaber combat._

**...**

_Meanwhile onboard the Queen's ship, Anakin along with Padme and a man in a leather tunic entered the ship's cockpit and bridge._

_"Qui-Gon's in trouble." The man says._

_A young man in a Jedi robe hunkers down beside the pilot._

_"Take off." Then he peered through the ship's viewport, and pointed, "Over there. Fly low."_

_The young man was confused and curious about who is attacking his master outside the ship._

**...**

_Instantly, the ship begins taking off and flies toward Qui-Gon's position._

**_"Uh oh." Theron says as he notices the ship leaving. "Now's the best time for me to leave."_**

_Theron Force jumps onto the ramp and enters inside the ship's cargo hold. But then, he turns around and lools outside to see Qui-Gon still fighting off the black hooded figure. This worried Theron._

**_"Come on, old man." He mutters._**

_Qui-Gon finally notices the ship over him and he quickly jumps on the ramp before running inside the ship's cargo hold and collapses on the floor as the ramp and airlock closed up._

**_"He made it." Theron sighs with relief._**

_Outside, the hooded figure looks on as the Queen's ship flies away, making for Tatooine's orbit. No point in following them due to failing his task, the figure deactivates his red lightsaber blade and looks onward at the blue sky._

**...**

_On the floor, Qui-Gon pants from exhaustion as he deactivates his lightsaber while on the floor next to the blue domed R2 unit. Just then, Anakin and the young man in brown Jedi robes over a white tunic runs in the cargo hold and crouched down._

_"Are you alright?" Anakin asks with concern._

_"I think so." Qui-Gon nods while catching his breath._

_"What was it?" The young man asks about who that figure was._

_The young sports short hair tied into a small ponytail and a Padawan braid on his right side, along with blue eyes and a handsome young face._

**"Hey. That's Obi-Wan." Theron says, immediately recognizing him. "I didn't recognize him without the beard, though."**

_"I'm not sure," Qui-Gon answers. "but it was well-trained in the Jedi arts. My guess is it was after the queen."_

_"What are we gonna to do about it?" Anakin asks._

_Qui-Gon looks at the two as he's still unsure._

_"We shall be patient." He says before introducing Anakin to his own Padawan learner. "Anakin Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi."_

_"Hi." Anakin greets the young Padawan in his 20s with happiness as he shakes hands with him. "You're a Jedi too? Pleased to meet you."_

_Obi-Wan smiles at the boy as he shakes his hand while Qui-Gon looks on._

**...**

**Present Day**

Theron's eyes open up as he is meditating with his legs crossed and his lightsaber hilt in front of him.

"Well... that was interesting." He comments with a dry sense of humor.

Just then, the door to his bedroom opens and R4 stands outside.

"Meatbag." R4 says. "That girl's at the door."

"Take the kid and hide him." Theron orders. "I don't need her to see him."

"Copy that." The droid beeps as he rolls away and the room door closes.

**To be continued...**


	29. Act 2: Chapter 15

**Act 2: Chapter 15 - Meditation Training**

**August 3, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**Academy City**

Saten is waiting outside of Theron's front door. She looks left and right, hoping that she has the right address he gave her. She is now wearing her favorite four leaf clover short sleeve shirt and pants that are just below her knees but above her ankles along with a pair of running sneakers. She even has her chest length long black hair let down this time.

_"I hope I have the right place." Saten comments to herself. "IF this is the right place."_

The door opens and Theron stands before her.

"Glad you can make it." He says. "Nice shirt, by the way."

"Thanks." The girl smiles at the compliment.

Theron lets her inside his home and Saten looks around at the condition of the place.

"This place is a mess." She comments with slight disgust as she looks at the piles of debris in a corner along with a small hole in the ceiling.

"Yeah. Been like this since R4 and I found this place. We just don't have the time or money to renovate the place."

"But don't you have those pearls you used for the auction yesterday?" She points out his rich status.

"I need the remaining pearls for other things that are more important than a hangar, Saten."

"You should still look into renovating your home then since you illegally are living here."

"This place is abandoned. It's not like anyone's gonna make a big deal about it." He casually says. "But you do have a point. I'll look into it if I have the time."

"So anyway," Saten changes the topic. "We're here to continue my training on how to use the Force?"

"Yes." He nods as he walks over to a table and picks up his master's holocron. "Here."

He quickly tosses the cube to Saten and she immediately catches it in her hands.

"Good reflexes." He comments. "Impressive."

"Well those extra classes at school helped me out a lot." She admits while looking at the holocron. "But what's this?"

"A holocron." He simply answers.

However, this confused the girl even more.

"Huh? A holo-what?"

"A holocron." He repeats but the girls is still confused due to her face and he sighs frustratingly. "It's a storage device used by the Jedi that houses information such as historical records, star maps, lightsaber and Force techniques, and other secrets that are off limits to other Jedi besides the high ranking members of the Order. The only way to access a holocron is by using the Force."

"Ohhhhhhhhh." She says in awe. "That's pretty cool. So you want me to open it up then?"

"Yep." He says as he sits on a chair to watch. "Close your eyes and clear your mind."

Determined, she obeys and closes her eyes as she outstretches the holocron in her hand while clearing her mind. Moments later, the holocron begins levitating from her telekinetic usage of the Force and the holocron opens up to show Obi-Wan's hologram recorded message.

**"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen." **

As the voice of the Jedi Master continues talking, Saten opens her eyes and gasps at what she just did.

"I did it!" She shouts excitingly.

"Nice job, Saten. You might have more potential than I thought."

"Aw, that's very sweet of you." She says with a wink and a giggle, earning a blush from Theron. Saten then notices the hologram. "Who's this? He literally looks like that famous actor."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi. A Jedi Master before the Purge." He explains. "One of the greatest lightsaber duelists in galactic history."

"One of the greatest duelists?" She repeats his phrase.

"He's a master of Form III, aka Soresu. And he's a really damn good practitioner of this form."

"Soresu." She mutters to herself with curiosity in her voice. "What does it specialize in, Theron?"

"It focuses more on defense than offense." He explains. "Mostly due to the growing use of a blaster throughout the old Galaxy."

"That's awesome!" She beams before realizing something. "Wait. You said Form III. There's more than one?"

"There's seven in total. But we can talk about it later. Today, we're going to be mediating."

"Wait, what?" She questions in confusion.

"What? You expect me to just show you the techniques on the fly?" He mockingly asks before chuckling. "Ah, Saten. You have much to learn."

"I thought I was going to learn about the cool stuff that you do." She grits her teeth in slight anger.

"Well first of all, you have a ridiculously HUGE amount of anger and jealously within you. And secondly, your mental barriers are weak against attacks on the mind so you're vulnerable to being brainwashed, memory wiped, etc." He bluntly points out. "Shall I go on for you?"

Saten felt really offended by his words. She so wants to punch him so badly for that. However, if she does that, then she won't be able to get anymore training from the Jedi himself. Sighing frustratingly and impatiently, she gives in.

"Fine." She mutters.

"This way." He says.

**...**

Inside his bedroom, the two have taken their shoes off and are on opposite ends from each other as their legs are crossed while sitting on a large meditation mat.

"At least your room is so clean." She says while looking around as the sunlight peers through the windows of his room.

"Focus." He interrupts her who immediately goes back at looking at him as his eyes are closed. "You need to be less distracted from your surroundings. Be mindful of them."

Saten nods and takes a deep breath before closing her blue eyes. A few minutes later, they're finally in a meditative state as they are inside each other's heads.

**...**

_Saten opens her eyes and she gasps at her surroundings. She is literally walking on a field of clouds in an endless blue sky._

_"Whoa..." She says in awe while looking around. "This is so amazing!"_

_"Indeed." Theron says, who is now standing next to her._

_"Aahhhh!" She yelps in fright._

_Theron starts laughing at how he spooked her. This made Saten angry again._

_"Damn you." She pouts in a real cute way._

_"That's for scaring me on the train." He says with a smug grin on his face._

_"I'll wipe that goofy smug look off your face, Theron!" She says in annoyance._

_"Good luck with that." He rolls his eyes. "Come on. Follow me."_

_The two walk through the field of clouds as they decide to explore due to being both adventurous and all. Saten then notices something in the clouds._

_"Hey, what's that over there?" She wonders as she runs toward it, leaving Theron behind._

_"Saten, wait!" He calls out and follows her._

_When they enter the clouds, they are no longer in the endless sky. They appear to be inside a Japanese household._

_"Wait a minute." She says while looking around. "I know this place."_

_"Huh?"_

_"This is my home." She says. "Yeah. I'm home! Oh, I've missed this place."_

_Just then, a little girl with pigtails run passed the two teens._

_"Uh, is it me or was that little girl that just passed by us look like you?" He asks._

_The two got curious and found the girl in the next room who is with her little brother and parents._

_"You're gonna a be an Esper, Sis! That's so cool!" The brother says with excitement._

_The little girl laughs with pride. She's so excited in living in Academy City and becoming an Esper with powers. However, her mother is concerned for her daughter's well being._

_"Sweetie. I need you to know that I'm not totally on board with this." She says to her daughter._

_"Mom's a big worry wart, huh?" The father chuckles while reading a newspaper._

_"I'm just concerned about her. I don't want them messing with her head."_

_"It's not like that at all, mommy!" The girl argues with her mother, believing it's safe._

_On the sidelines, Saten looks down in sadness and shame as she watches her own childhood replayed before her._

_"How could I be so naive and stupid?" She says to herself. "I should've listened to my mom."_

_"Saten?" Theron asks her when he notices her tears falling on the floor._

_But Saten leaves the room, sniffling. Wanting to find out from her, he finds the teenage girl sitting by the wall hugging her own legs and hiding her face._

_"Saten?" He asks her again and sits next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"_

_She didn't answer as she continues to sniffle to herself._

_"Saten!" He calls for her again, only he raised his voice a little louder._

_"What's there to talk about?" She scoffs without looking him in the eye. "My mother warned me about Academy City. About them messing with my head and all."_

_"Saten, you were only a child. There was no way you could've known the risks and-."_

_"But I didn't listen to her!" She angrily yells at him, looking at the Jedi with tears in her eyes._

_Theron notices that her eyes have turned red before switching back to blue. However, he paid no mind to it right now as he needs to comfort the depressed girl._

_"It was last summer. July." She begins her story. "I was so jealous of having powers and I was so tired of being a Level 0. Then I found a song called the Level Upper. I was so excited that I get to have powers but at the same time I was scared of using it on my own, so I shared it with my other friends at school. And then, I finally became an Esper. I was so happy! But then... all of the sudden... one of my friends collapsed. It was like I was having a nightmare."_

_Theron was shocked to hear this from a girl who is cheerful on the outside. But on the inside, her heart is filled with pain, suffering, regret, shame, and sadness. He senses this great pain coming from her._

_"But it wasn't a nightmare. It was real." She continues. "I got dragged into something so dangerous that I hurt my friends in the process. I thought that Uiharu and the others helped me moved past that but... all of it is coming back to haunt me! And now that I have the Force, I should be happy to have powers again but now... I'm so ashamed of myself that I don't know if I can really move on!"_

_She then let's it all out and starts crying. Theron could no longer see her cry for something that's not her fault._

_"Saten..." He begins. "We all make mistakes. My master once said to me that struggling throughout our lives makes us who we are. That we have a chance to move on and not make those same mistakes again."_

_Saten looks up at Theron again and listens closely._

_"For me... I don't know if I'll ever move on. But that's beside the point. The point, Saten, is that you can't blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault. I know you're struggling with being traumatized, but that's all in the past and you need to move on. All I'm saying is that you need to let go. If not for me, for your friends and family. Please."_

_Once again, Saten was moved by his words. He really is kind, knowing that she is struggling with her past and is willing to do what it takes to help her let go and move on._

_"I... I don't know how you do it." She says. "But... you seemed to have found a way of cheering me up, huh? T-Thank you."_

_"No problem."_

_Suddenly, Saten hugs him tightly. He was taken aback by this sort of action from her and he hugs her back as well._

_"No matter what, as long as I'm here, I'll do what I can to protect you. That's I promise I hope to keep."_

_"And I'll do the same for you, Theron." She says with a smile._

_She then kisses him on the cheek as another 'thank you'. Her cheeks were red just like the flustered boy's._

_"Uhhh..." He says while rubbing his kissed cheek. There were small traces of lip gloss from the girl's precious lips._

_"Don't take this the wrong way. Think of it as a small reward from me." Saten says while doing her best in avoiding eye contact with him._

_Theron chuckles._

_"Whatever you say."_

_"Now that we're done going over my little nervous __breakdown, let's go look at your memories." Saten changes the topic again while standing back up on her feet, excited to see something good from him._

_"Yeah, but- huh?!" Theron spats out in confusion._

_"Oh, don't be such a big baby. It can't be that bad." She says without paying no mind to him._

_"Look I don't know-." He argues._

_But the bubbly girl wouldn't listen as she grabs his wrist and pulls him up off the floor._

_"Alley-oop!" The girl laughs while dragging him down the hallway._

_"Hey! Wait!" He says while trying to break free to no avail. "Damn it, she's got a really tight grip on me!"_

_Saten giggles at this and continues to pull him down the hallway even further._

**_..._**

_Their surroundings have changed and they are no longer inside Saten's family home. Instead, they are inside the halls of a gothic themed fortress._

_"Huh?" Saten looks around in confusion. "I don't think this is the right place."_

_Theron's eyes widen as he recognizes the memory they're in._

_"Saten, we need to pull out of our meditative states."_

_"Why?"_

_"Don't argue! We need to leave! Now!"  
_

_Just then, raspy mechanical breathing his heard. This caused Theron to shake in fear and his eyes to widen again. Saten, on the other hand, hears the unfamiliar breathing and becomes scared of it as well._

_"T-Theron?" She questions him, now becoming scared of hearing something so terrifying in her life._

_The breathing got closer and louder, resulting in Theron to use the Force and shatter their entire surroundings. And then, everything went white._

**...**

Saten opens her eyes and gasps, awakening from her meditative state. She then looks at Theron in front of her and sees him shaking and sweating. It's like he knows who that breathing noise belongs to.

"What the hell was that?" She demands. "That awful breathing sound-."

"It was a mistake trying to show you some of my memories." Theron interrupts her.

"Who did that raspy breathing belong to?"

"Forget it, Saten." He says. "Damn hell I'm gonna tell you who that sound belongs to."

"Bu-!" She begins to argue.

"NO!" He shouts at her.

She flinches, realizing that he's really sensitive about the topic.

_"Maybe it was a mistake prying into his memories without his permission." She wonders, regretting at what she did earlier._

"That's enough training for today." Theron says, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I feel like this whole thing's gone on long enough for both of us."

"Huh?" She says and notices the time on his alarm clock. "It's already noon? Jeez, how long have we've been doing this?"

"Since 9 in the morning."

"Three hours?!" She exclaims in shock. "But it felt like we've been inside our heads for only a few minutes!"

"Eh. You'll get use to it." He casually waves his hand.

Just then, his comm link goes off and he immediately answers it.

"Yes?" He asks. "Yomikawa?"

There was silence for a few moments.

"Yes. Alright, send me the address." Theron continues before hanging up.

"What does she want?" Saten asks him.

"Yomikawa wants me to head on over to her friend's lab in School District 7. Says something about my opinion on the technology they're studying from that Star Destroyer wreckage that's still standing in School District 23."

"Alright if I tag along?" She asks.

"Sure."

**...**

The two left for School District 7 as they walk down the hill where Theron's home is. Unbeknownst to him, the little green child pokes his head out of the Jedi's backpack and goes back to hiding inside.

**...**

**School District 6**

The Inquisitor is on the city rooftops as he continues his search for the Jedi and his side objective that's none other than the child.

"Where are you, Jedi?" He impatiently snarls aloud. "You can't hide forever."

The Inquisitor jumps off the rooftop and uses the Force to slow his fall, landing on the concrete floors of an alleyway. Getting back up from a crouched position from when he landed earlier, the dark side user walks out of the alley and looks around to see that he's at Academy City's known amusement park. Fortunately for him, there are lots of people that he could take advantage of to get draw the Jedi out of hiding.

"When out in the open, there's only one way to get the attention of the Jedi." He continues as people inside the amusement park he's in are looking at him. He then pulls out his lightsaber hilt.

"Slaughter of the innocent. Mercilessly and without compromise."

The Inquisitor then ignites his red blade, and the people look at him jumped in fear.

**To be continued...**


	30. Act 2: Chapter 16

**Act 2: Chapter 16 - Lab Shenanigans and Baby Hunting**

**School District 7**

**Yoshikawa's Research Lab**

Theron and Saten are outside the research lab of one Kikyou Yoshikawa. The exterior of the building doesn't look fancy like most research facilities in Academy City.

"At least this place isn't suspiciously fancy and super clean like some places I've heard about here in this city." Theron mutters to himself.

"Huh?" Saten asks, hearing what he has already said.

"Nothing." He answers. "Let's head on inside."

Entering through the front entrance, they find a receptionist behind a desk and walked over to her.

"Excuse me, is Yoshikawa here?" Theron asks. "I was sent over by Yomikawa."

"You must be the kid Yoshikawa wanted to meet." The receptionist smiles. "Go down the hall, make a left turn, and you'll find her in one of her labs. She's honestly been studying whatever technology and data she and her small team of scientists have recovered on that giant spaceship that's still residing in the 23rd School District for days now nonstop."

"Thank you." He bows in respect before the two teens walk down the hallway.

It wasn't long, but they began hearing commotion going on inside one of the labs.

When Theron and Saten entered inside, they are shocked to see that the lab is huge as they see a team of scientists studying on what appears to be the remains of a hyperdrive from the crashed ISD.

"Whoa..." The two said in awe.

"Seems like they're going all out just so they can study what's left of Imperial tech that's recovered from the crash site." Theron comments.

"Hey look! It's Misaka!" Saten says as they see Misaka talking to a a woman in a lab coat with a plain t-shirt underneath it and has straight short black hair. "Hey, Misaka!"

Misaka and the woman are interrupted when they see Saten waving at the Tokiwadai girl with a huge grin on her face, and they notice that she's with Theron.

"Saten! Theron!" Misaka greets happily as the Jedi and the Force sensitive girl walk up to her and the woman. "Good to see you!"

"Well this is a surprise." Theron says. "What are you doing here?"

"Well you see, I was curious about the scientists Yomikawa is friends with so she gave me the address." The Railgun explains to her friends before changing her expression with concern towards the Jedi. "Hey, about what happened yesterday-."

"Say no more, Misaka. It's alright." He interrupts her. "I should be the one to apologize to you, Shirai, and Uiharu. I wasn't in the right mind yesterday."

"Excuse me?" The woman next to Misaka says to Theron, getting his attention. "So you're Theron Skywalker, right? Kikyou Yoshikawa. I'm a friend of Yomikawa's. She spoke highly of you for saving her men and the entire city."

"Entire planet." He corrects her. "But yeah, I get what she means."

"Still," She continues as she and the teens start walking towards the remains of a hyperdrive her team of scientists are studying. "I can't believe that we're not alone in the universe. And what's shocking is that humans are more diverse than just here on Earth."

"There are other sentient species besides humans." He explains while observing the scientists at work.

"Really? Tell me, what's it like exploring other worlds?"

"I can't exactly give you an honest answer, but I haven't been travelling to other star systems in my old Galaxy."

"How come?" She further questions him.

"Sorry, but I can't answer that question. It brings a lot of bad memories." He apologizes, not wanting to discuss it after this morning's meditation with Saten.

Misaka leans over at Saten.

"What does he mean by that?" Misaka whispers.

"Theron and I had a meditative session this morning, and I accidentally saw one of his memories that traumatizes him so much." She whispers back.

"Will he be alright?" Misaka further questions with concern in her voice.

"Yeah." Saten lies, not wanting to worry her or the others. _"He and I are both struggling to move on from our past."_

The two girls went back to listening in on Theron's conversation. Yoshikawa listens as the boy explains about hyperspace travel and the Purgil that inspired it. Then, he briefly went on about how the Empire came to be (though, not the entire truth as mentions of the Galactic Republic using a Clone army against the Separatists was kept from her and the two girls present with him). This shocked and disgusted Yoshikawa. She believes that they're very similar to the Nazis from World War II who nearly wiped out the Jews in concentration camps, and that the Empire are enslaving or possibly committing genocide on other sentient species that are seen as a threat to them. Theron points out that in his galaxy that's in a different universe, the Empire nearly wiped out a race called the Lasats as they were one of the first to stand up against the galactic regime.

"And the Empire doesn't care about one of their own, seeing them as expendable tools to their regime?" Yoshikawa concludes in disgust. "Bastards. It's like the Dark Side of Academy City all over again."

"Except it's way worse." Saten agrees with the woman. "The Jedi were nearly wiped out in a purge when the Empire was formed. Theron was a Jedi in training but..."

"...My master and I were never involved in the Purge, so we were lucky to survive." Theron finishes the girl's sentence. "Unfortunately, they found us and my master was killed when he tried protecting me."

"I'm so sorry." Yoshikawa says with dread. "My condolences to your master then. Who was he? He sounded like he was a great teacher to you."

"Come to think of it, you never told us his name." Misaka points out, curious about Theron's master's name.

"Yeah. What was his name, Theron?" The Level 0 asks her crush.

"His name was Hideo Shan." The Jedi explains. "A former Jedi Knight from the old Order."

"Former?" The two girls said in unision.

"Let's just say that he and the Jedi Council didn't exactly see eye-to-eye due to master's disagreements with the Council's decisions."

"Wait, hold on." Saten interrupts, surprised to hear that Theron's teacher isn't a strictly by-the-books kind of Jedi. "Are you saying that Hideo was rebellious?"

"You'd be surprised about what he did in his time as a Jedi." Theron chuckles at the stories his late father figure and mentor told him about.

Suddenly, a red blaster bolt flies past Yoshikawa and the teens. The laser blast bounces off the walls multiple times until it dissipates into nothingness.

"What the hell!" One of the scientists scolded one of her colleagues. "Are you trying to get us all killed or something?!"

"Sorry! I think this firearm is faulty or something!" The second scientist argues with her.

"Or maybe you're using it all wrong! Seriously, learn when to NOT touch something that's foreign to us."

The three teens all sweat-dropped at the sight of the scientists bantering with each other.

"I think it's safe to say that they don't know how to use a blaster." Misaka deadpans, earning nods from her friends.

"It's not the blasters." Theron explains with a blank face, getting his friends's attention. He seems to be annoyed. "It's likely that stormtroopers were never given proper training. Either to focus more on strength in numbers or they limited their training on purpose. Or both."

"Jeez. Talk about wasted potential." Saten sarcastically comments while rolling her eyes.

**...**

"That was interesting, to say the least." Theron admits as he and the girls walk down the busy city streets.

"Sure was." Misaka agrees. "Still, I'm surprised that her dream job was to be a teacher."

"There must be a reason to why she chose to be a researcher instead of pursuing her dream." Saten wonders with her finger on her chin.

"Probably the Dark Side of Academy City, no less. If she's friends with Yomikawa, then she probably knows Accelerator and his governing chairman status." The Jedi theorizes without realizing he's correct and all.

Suddenly, his comm link goes off and he immediately answers.

"R4?" He pauses. "What? And you just took your eyes off for only a few minutes? Damn it. I'll start looking now."

"Let me guess, you and R4 are having trouble with something?" Saten questions.

"It's nothing major." He lies. "Look, I need to run an errand so I'll meet you down by the clover fields. Won't take long, okay? See ya!"

Before the girls could say a word, Theron had already left them by themselves near a certain vending machine.

"Well, he seemed to be in a hurry." Misaka jokes.

Just then, the girls heard rustling in the bushes.

"What's that sound?" Saten asks nervously.

"Don't know." The Level 5 says with suspicion in her eyes, electric sparks surrounding her as she prepares to defend herself. "We know you're there! Come out!"

And then, the unexpected happened. The Child walks out of the bushes with his ears drooped down, and he looks really lonely. This confused the girls as they look at each other. Saten then slowly walks toward it and cautiously picks the green infant up with her hands.

"Okaayyy... Let's take a good look at you." Saten says as she looks at the baby face to face. _"What is this thing? Is this a baby?"_

"I've never seen a creature like this before." Misaka says as she closely looks at the Child. "What do you think this is, Saten? It doesn't look like Gekota."

"I don't know." The Force sensitive girl shrugs. "But I think it's a baby."

"Huh?" The Railgun blinks a few times before realizing something. "Wait, you don't think Theron has something to do with this?"

"Well, it's kinda obvious. He IS a human from outer space after all." Saten points out before looking back at the baby and then smiling warmly. "Hey there, little guy. Did that grumpy and brooding Jedi left you lonesome all on your own?"

The Child coos in response and seems to be curious around her.

"Seems to me that you must be good with taking care of babies, Saten." Misaka teases with a wink.

"W-Wha?!" Saten blushes in embarrassment. "Oh, no. It's my first time doing this, to be honest. Though I do read a few baby books at one point."

"Remember when you were raising Febri? You definitely have the traits of becoming a mother some day."

"Now hold on a sec, Misaka!" Saten argues, blushing even more. "Raising Febri is totally different from raising a baby! Febri's a kid. This... pointy eared little green fella... is only an infant! Why would you think that I act like an actual mother?!"

Soon the baby starts whimpering, getting the girls's attention once more.

"Hey, I think it's hungry." Misaka points out.

"Well, Joseph's is only a few blocks away but I don't think the baby can wait that long." Saten says.

"Hmm." The Railgun ponders to herself before noticing the familiar vending machine that's right next to them. "Ah! I know!"

Misaka runs over to the vending machine and inserts a coin before performing a roundhouse kick. Soon, a drink can falls out of the machine into the tray and she picks it up.

"You sure love to kick that vending machine, huh?" Saten smirks.

Ignoring that comment, Misaka walks back to Saten and the Child, who have just sat down onto a bench.

"Here." She hands her friend the warm drink can. "The vending machine was lucky enough to pop out a can of warm broth for the little guy."

"Thanks, Misaka." The rumor hunting girl says and opens the top up for the baby. "You hungry?"

The baby curiously looks at her and then takes a few sips from the warm broth.

"You know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to babysit you till Theron meets up with us at the clover fields." She says to the infant before slyly grin. "And then, I'm going to charge him for watching you."

Misaka sweats drop at this.

"Seriously?" She questions her.

"What? Just because I have powers now, doesn't mean my level has changed. I do need money to get by at my place."

**...**

**School District 6**

**Amusement Park**

There was fire everywhere as it ablaze the amusement park. Bodies of innocent people are scattered everywhere, either piled up or set on fire from the source that caused it in the first place. That includes a small unit of Anti-Skill officers. The Inquisitor looks around the damage he has caused, satisfy with his work.

"This will draw the Jedi out in the open, and will motivate him to come and face me." He says to himself aloud. "He has the child. And he will be a powerful servant of the dark side."

Just then, he hears groaning and turns around to see that a member of Judgement is injured.

_"Seems he's still alive." The dark side Force user deduces in his thoughts, not bothered at all for the injured officer's survival._

The Inquisitor then walks over to the crawling officer that could no longer keep going and stands before him.

"Y-You won't get away with this." The Judgement officer says while coughing up blood. "Anti-Skill will hunt an intruder like you down."

"I'm flattered." The dark side wielder sarcastically responds. "But I'm not after you. Tell your colleagues that I'm looking for a dangerous fugitive in your precious Academy City."

"Wha-?" The teenage officer says but the Inquisitor uses the Force to put him to sleep.

_"That'll keep him from losing any more blood until the authorities arrive, so that they can get my message."_

The Inquisitor walks away from the scene just as sirens from a distance is heard.

**...**

Back in School District 7, Theron continues to look for the Child but to no success.

"R4, please tell me your scanners have found the kid." Theron pleads through the comms, beginning to get desperate of finding him.

_"I don't, Theron. I've done a city wide scan like you asked me to do, but there's no sign of the baby." R4 says. "Why don't you use the Force? It'll be easier for you to track him down with it."_

"That's not how the Force works." He deadpans in annoyance. "How many times do I got to keep telling you? I can't even make a connection with animals."

_"Oh, right. You told me you were swallowed whole by a Krayt Dragon." The droid forgotten about._

"Don't remind me." The Jedi bitterly says before changing the subject. "Anyways, did any of the Imperials that have been arrested in the aftermath of the invasion started talking about what they're doing here on Earth?"

_"No. Anti-Skill are having difficulty in getting any useful information out of them."_

"They're trained to resist interrogation after all." He mutters. "Hey, I gotta go meet up with Saten and Misaka at the clover fields. I'll keep my eye out for the kid. He seems to like stowing away in my pack."

"Enjoy your new date with Saten, meatbag." R4 laughs before ending the call.

"IT'S NOT A DATE!" Theron yells through the comm-link while blushing. "Damn that droid. He's a real pain in the ass sometimes."

**...**

A few minutes later, Theron reaches the clover fields that are south of the Tokiwadai Dorms. Looking around, he finally sees Saten and Misaka lying on the fields napping.

"At least there sleeping." He chuckles at the sight of his friends napping.

But then, he sees that the sleeping Saten is holding the sleeping Child.

"Hey!" He shouts at her walking down the small slopes.

This eventually woke Misaka and Saten up as they jump up in surprise.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Saten shouts dramatically.

The baby then wakes up crying.

"No, no, no! It's okay." The girl calms him down with a motherly, gentle voice. She then notices Theron next to him as the girls stand up with a glare at him. "You woke him up, Theron! You have any idea how difficult it was to finally get him to sleep?"

"Hand him to me." He demands calmly.

"Not so fast." She refuses while holding the baby in her hands. "You can't just leave a baby unattended like that!"

"Yeah, Theron." Misaka agrees. "What the hell were you even thinking?"

"Okay, first of all, that's not my fault. I had R4 babysitting him, and somehow he must've followed me." He explains truthfully.

"You expect me to believe that?" Saten questions with an unconvinced and angry expression. "You know, you have a lot to learn in raising a young one."

"Ahhhhhhhh." The baby coos out in agreement, earning a smug look from Misaka and Saten.

Theron didn't start arguing with them and looks at them.

"Thank you." He says for finding the Child and looking after him.

"So how did you end up finding this cute little guy?" The Railgun asks while gushing over the baby.

"Long story." He says. "One that I don't feel like talking about."

"Theron." The Level 0 says in a stern voice. "Do I need to blackmail you again?"

"Okay, fine!" He says in annoyance. "I went off world for a while. Just before yesterday's Midsummer Festival."

"What?!" They shouted in unison.

**...**

**One big explanation later...**

"You promised us that you wouldn't go behind our backs! Why would you keep doing this?" Saten lectures.

Theron looks away, knowing he doesn't have an answer for them.

"Theron, I think you need to learn about how friendship actually works around here. You're not alone in this conflict, remember? Let us help you just as we're helping in babysitting the kid. Trust me, I know this from experience." Misaka says.

Misaka has always wanted to do things alone without involving her friends in it. Thankfully, she has learned this from both Saten and Touma. For Theron, however, he can't do it. He can't do it because he made a promise after his master Hideo was killed.

"You don't understand. I don't think you'll ever understood." He says with seeds of doubt within him.

"What? We can't help you but you can help us?" Saten questions in disbelief.

"I've lost master Shan. I failed to help him. But I promise myself... that I won't lose anyone else. Even if I could never involve those but R4 close to me."

Before the girls could chew him out more, sirens are heard as a few Anti-Skill vehicles, fire trucks, and ambulances pass by.

"They seem to be in a hurry. I wonder what's going on." Misaka says curiously.

The three teens look up and see that Academy City's only news blimp is showing a huge fire and dead bodies scattered everywhere.

"What is that?" Saten says with concern.

"Trouble." Theron says as his expression turns serious with a frown.

**To be continued...**


	31. Trailer

**Trailer**

**Warning: The following trailer is non canon to the main story of the Force Eternal and the canon and legends timelines.**

**...**

**[Battlefront II Celebration Edition Trailer music plays]**

**LucasFilm**

**Ltd.**

**Funimation**

**...**

A Star Destroyer orbits above Academy City with two other similar ships. And on the city streets, citizens are being evacuated as Anti-Skill and Judgement are preparing for a fight for their lives as Sentinel-class Imperial shuttles touch down in the ruined School District 7 streets. The shuttle boarding ramps open up and stormtroopers charge out, shooting red laser bolts at them.

The Espers and Anti-Skill begin to fight back as the former use their powers to take down some of the Imperials. The Espers that are helping in the fight include Shirai, Konori (using a blaster rifle), Kongou, Wannai, Awatsuki, and Misaka. Meanwhile, Uiharu is on the sidelines helping her fellow officers in tactical support with her laptop. The battle was going well for Academy City both on ground and in the air as the city defenses shoot down TIE fighters and incoming AT-STs.

However, things go wrong as three AT-ATs begin firing on our heroes and the city authorities.

_"Shirai, those AT-ATs will rip us apart! We need to fall back and hold the line!" Uiharu says over the Teleporter's earpiece._

Shirai finishes taking down a few troops with the help of her powers when she now orders her friends and fellow officers to retreat alongside Anti-Skill.

"Everyone, fall back! Their numbers are overwhelming us!" She shouts loudly.

Even if Misaka could take on the big walkers with ease, she's not fast enough to dodge the heavy laser cannon fire from the said walkers. Therefore, everyone begins retreating back into the underground mall as the Stormtroopers keep shooting at them. The last remaining Judgement and AntAnti-Skill officers made it inside the underground mall when they are suddenly Force choked in place and then slammed into the walls, killing them with ease.

The figure releases the dead bodies and reveals himself to be a light armored Inquisitor with a black/red Vader inspired helmet alongside a red t visor of sorts, and he wears a black cloak with hood down. He and his five Purge trooper squadron enter the mall with their blaster rifles in hand, securing the area. The girls present all prepare to fight them with serious expressions on their faces.

Suddenly, something came behind the Purge troopers and a few were cut down by a lightsaber. The last remaining black armored troopers are then Force pulled by another individual and was slashed in the chest, killing them.

The Inquisitor then turns around slowly as he recognizes the sapphire blue blade and the boy wearing a leather jacket with gloves over his hands. This is Theron Skywalker.

The dark side user then turns his head to see that Theron is being helped by a girl with chest length black hair and a flower hair pin on her left side of her head. She is wearing a blue and white short sleeved shirt and knee length skinny jeans with sneakers on. This is Ruiko Saten, wielding a blue bladed lightsaber.

**[Screen goes black]**

**...**

**Experience ****the** **Skywalker Saga**

**...**

The Railgun girls meet up with Theron and R4 in which the Jedi turns around and greets them on a wonderful day in Academy City.

**...**

Scene changes to Touma with a determined look on his face, clenching his right hand that carries Imagine Breaker.

**...**

The scene then changes to a close up of a familiar Sith Lord as he turns his head while his raspy breathing being heard, and echoes as the scene transitions into a dirty blond shoulder length haired young man with sky blue eyes and a scar next to his intact right eye, and is seen frowning while his eyes are looking in another direction.

**...**

The scene changes to Accelerator who is seen brooding on a rooftop, drinking canned coffee.

**...**

The scene then transitions to Obi-Wan standing on the mountainous sands of Geonosis, wearing a mix of Jedi attire and clone armor pieces leading a battalion of troopers in white armor with orange markings on them as the Jedi Master faces off an alien cyborg wielding two lightsabers - one blue and the other green - before spitting his arms to two extra limbs that are gripping two more sabers, and spins them around to confuse his Jedi nemesis, moving towards him.

**...**

The scene then goes back to the Inquisitor igniting his red lightsaber, and Theron and Saten charged at him at the same time and clashed their blades with the Jedi hunter's. The Inquisitor then forces pushes the teens away who they then slide across the floor still standing on their feet. The Jedi hunter's hilt's half circle turns into a disc shaped ring and ingnites a second red blade at the bottom and both blades started spinning. He then chooses Theron as his target and throws the spinning double bladed lightsaber at him before the screen goes black, ending on a cliffhanger.

**...**

**\- STAR WARS -**

**The Force Eternal**


	32. Act 2: Chapter 17

**Act 2: Chapter 17 - The Second Brother (Part 1)**

**School District 6**

**Amusement Park**

A crime scene has been set up at the destroyed amusement park as dead bodies are gathered up and samples are being taken by forensics. Yellow tape has cut off access to inside the park, however, as people watch what's going on. Thankfully, Yomikawa and her fellow officers manage to disperse the crowd peacefully, save for a few still present.

"So there's no signs of any useful evidence to track down this intruder?" Shirai asks Yomikawa in disbelief.

"Unfortunately." Yomikawa answers bitterly. "We hope the corpses would help us, but there's no traces of any fingerprints or DNA left behind by the suspect."

"Which means that there's two possibilities." Konori says with her hand on her chin while looking down. "Either the Empire is attacking the Academy City again. Or we could be looking at another threat we know nothing about."

"Either way, whoever it is, we need to hunt this intruder down before more people are killed in the process." Uiharu suggests.

"Yomikawa!" Theron calls for her as he, Saten, and Misaka arrived at the crime scene with the Child hidden inside the former's backpack.

"Theron?" Yomikawa answers in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"We saw what happened on the news." He explains. "We were hoping that there were any survivors that could tell us what happened here."

"One of our own managed to survive the attack." The Level 3 Judgement chief says. "However, we're unable to move him to a hospital until we can find a way to move him safely without risking in reopening his wounds up."

"Where is he now?" The Jedi asks.

"Inside the crime scene. We're doing everything we can to stabilize him." Shirai answers.

"Let me talk to him." He suggests.

"You can't." She explains. "You're still considered a civilian as no one besides Anti-Skill or Judgement are allowed inside."

Theron then walks past the Judgement girls and enters the crime scene, not fazed at all.

"Did he just straight up ignored me?" Shirai says in calmed anger.

"Yeah." Saten nervously grins. "He does that a lot."

"Probably acting cool and all." The Teleporter mutters aloud.

"I doubt that, Kuroko." Misaka deadpans.

**...**

Theron walks by the wreckage of the park as piles of debris and metal parts are scattered, covered in burn marks and soot. He finally sees two paramedics working on keeping the Judgement officer alive.

"He's in no condition to be moved. Not without proper equipment." The female paramedic argues.

"Then what can we do?" A male paramedic questions. "He's not gonna last long here. We can't wait that long!"

"Excuse me?" Theron asks, getting the medics' attention. "Is there anyway I can help?"

"A civilian? How'd you get past Anti-Skill and Judgement?" The male paramedic officer asks. "You know what, I don't wanna know. Anyway, if you want to help, we appreciate that. Unfortunately, we don't have the right equipment to get him to move without risking his wounds from opening up."

"Let me handle that." Theron nods as he crouches beside the paramedics.

Taking out of his healing stems out of his pouch, he injects it onto the injured officer's bandages. A few seconds later, the officer wakes up and coughs.

"That'll be enough for you to get him to the nearest hospital." The Jedi explains.

"Thank you, sir." The female paramedic nods. "We'll take it from here."

"With all due respect, I need to ask him a few questions about the one responsible for this incident."

"But we need to get him to a hospital." The male paramedic argues. "Now that he's properly stabilized, we can relocate him and-."

"Didn't you hear me?" Theron says with wave of his hand at the two. "You'll let talk to him."

The paramedics were in a trance as they hear his command.

"We will let you talk to him." One of them repeats his words.

"Now give us some privacy." He commands with the Force.

"We'll give you some privacy."

And just like that, the paramedics got up and left them alone.

_"At least I'm not rusty with this technique." Theron says to himself._

"I should have you arrested for using your ability like that." The injured teen says after witnessing on what the Jedi did. "But I guess you want answers about what happened."

"I do." The Jedi responds with a serious voice. "Tell me what happened here."

The Judgement officer nods and begins his story.

"I was out on patrol. Everything was looking normal here till people started running for their lives. I was going to help Anti-Skill with the evacuation, but... I was knocked out by an explosion. When I came to, everyone was dead. A few Anti-Skill too."

"Can you tell me who was behind this?" He further asks. "I need to know what he looks like and why he did it?"

"He was wearing some kind of armor with a black cloak that has his hood down. It looked too advanced for this city's advanced technology." The teen describes the attacker. "However, he wanted me to deliver a message to my fellow colleagues and Anti-Skill."

"What message?" Theron frowns suspiciously.

"He says that the reason he slaughtered everyone here was because he's looking for a fugitive not here in this city." He answers with a cough. "That was all he said before he knocked me out."

"Thank you for the information." The Jedi nods gratefully and stands up again, letting the paramedics carry him to an ambulance so that he can get the treatment he needs at a hospital.

As he was heading back to the others, he notices that his friends are already inside the wrecked amusement park with looks from them.

"You're lucky I didn't arrest you." Shirai blankly says to him. "Using your ability like that?"

"The Force." He corrects her.

"Whatever." She rolls her eyes. "Still, using a hypnotic power like that is considered a crime."

"What was that power you used, anyway?" Saten curiously asks. "Mind control?"

Misaka had to look away in disgust as it reminded her too much again about her friends being brainwashed to not knowing her and later their memories altered thanks to a certain Queen of Tokiwadai.

"The Force has a strong influence on the weak-minded." He explains. "We call it the Jedi mind trick. Useful to either persuade people to cooperate for information or to make them kill themselves by jumping out of a building, for example. Heh, the latter choice is kinda funny."

"How is that even funny?" Misaka blankly argues with a little anger in her voice. "You have some nerve in abusing your power like that."

"Don't be naive, Misaka." Theron says, rolling his eyes. "It was a dark time for the old Galaxy. Not to mention, I only use it to make Imperials kill themselves or each other. I had to survive in an enslaved galaxy. If you had the Force, you would've done the same damn thing. You don't have to agree with my methods, but don't ever question my motives. EVER."

"Aside from that," Konori changes topics to avoid escalation. "Did you find anything useful from one him?"

"Yeah." He says. "And he's right. There's an intruder here in Academy City. But there's more to it."

"Huh?" The girls said in unison, confused.

"What are you talking about?" Uiharu questions.

"The reason he killed those people is because he's looking for someone. And he's trying to draw him out in the open. I think he might be after me."

They had surprised looks on their faces.

"Why?" Saten asks her crush with a concerned look.

"Didn't I explain to you about surviving Jedi being hunted not too long ago?" He reminds her in annoyance. "The Empire has probably sent one of its agents after me."

"If the Empire is after you, then we need Anti-Skill and Judgement to keep a look out and apprehend him." Shirai suggests.

"No." He says. "I can't risk putting innocents in danger if he knows that the authorities are aware of his presence openly. He wants me, then let him. It'll save me the trouble of having to hunt him down like the rat he is."

"Wait, you're not suggesting in putting yourself in danger to actually get to you?!" Saten questions him, now completely worried for him.

"But he'll kill you!" Uiharu argues. "It's not a good idea to put yourself on the line!"

"I'm a Jedi. It's what I do and should do. Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi. My destiny."

"This isn't the time to be philosophical, Theron." Shirai argues. "He's out there looking for you!"

"I know. And I have to fight him."

"But do you know who exactly he is?" Misaka asks.

"I don't know." He admits before looking up with a frown on his face. "But I've got a feeling of WHO he is."

Unbeknownst to everyone, the Inquisitor never left the crime scene at all as he watches from a distance, studying his prey.

**...**

After leaving the crime scene, Theron and the girls are already walking down the city streets. Konori explained that she has to head back to the branch office and file a report about the attack, so she assigned Uiharu and Shirai to keep the Jedi safe from doing anything reckless. Yomikawa, earlier, gave the go ahead.

"I don't need protection, guys." He says in annoyance.

"It's for your own good." The Teleporter says. "You may not like it, but it's best that you don't do anything stupid and rash."

"Name one." He sarcastically banters. "I'd like to hear it coming from the mouth of a pervert like you."

Shirai tenses up, completely offended by his trolling yet again.

"Listen, you! I'm far from being a pervert! I only want to show my affection towards Sissy!"

"I can hear you, Kuroko!" Misaka shouts in the back as sparks around her show, annoyed with her friend's denial.

"That doesn't mean you sexually assault Misaka constantly just because you want to 'show your affection towards her.' You contradict your own words of something you despise of. Sounds like you're Academy City's greatest hypocrite alright." He roasts her completely.

"W-Well I-!" She stutters in response. "T-That's not-! Argh! You're an ass, ya know that?!"

"Whatever, hypocrite." He smugly says, getting a growl from her who starts giving off a dark aura around her.

_"Seriously!" Shirai complains in her head. "He's even worse than that troglodyte! When's he gonna learn to stop being a damn troll all the time?"_

Uiharu and Saten sweatdrop at their bantering.

"Yep. Theron sure likes to be a troll." Saten nervously grins.

"True that, Saten." Uiharu agrees with her best friend.

Saten then flips Uiharu's skirt up from behind and the blushing latter screams.

"Nooooo!!!" She screams in embarrassment.

"Hahahaha!" Saten laughs with a mischievous grin. "That's what you get for making me wear a dress in front of Theron."

"Hey guys." Misaka interrupts everyone. "Why don't we head to the mall?"

**To be continued...**


	33. Act 2: Chapter 18

**Act 2: Chapter 18 - The Second Brother (Part 2)**

**School District 7**

**Seventh Mist**

"Tell me again why we're here?" Theron complains as he and the girls are taking an escalator up to the upper floor where the clothes are being sold at.

"How about you loosen up for once, Theron?" Misaka berates him. "We're just here to shop for clothes, that's all."

They arrived at the upper floor and walk down the halls of the shopping mall as they look at the displays of various clothing such as pajamas.

"So you're looking for new clothes? Or is this just an excuse for wanting the Gekota-related ones?" He says with a raised eyebrow.

"H-Hey!" She exclaims with an embarrassing blush on her face. "That's none of your business!"

"And I don't care if you're into Gekota or not." He shoots back at her. "Just don't let your tsundere facade be your undoing."

This caused Misaka to grit her teeth and give off sparks around her, but she quickly calms down and puffs her cheeks at his unnecessary comment about the things she privately likes and wouldn't publicly admit. Unbeknownst to the group, however, the Inquisitor is closing in on the Jedi as he prepares to lure away people that might interfere with his mission.

**...**

It was a rather enjoyable late afternoon as the friends went to look at a variety of clothes. Shirai wanted to look at some lingerie for her pointless attempts of wooing Misaka as usual. Misaka, however, went to look at some sleepwear to buy as she has heard a new line of Gekota pajamas are out. As for Theron, Saten, and Uiharu, they went to the swimwear department.

"Hey Uiharu, look at this!" Saten says with excitement as she shows her best friend a bikini.

"Wow!" Uiharu says in awe. "It looks cute!"

"Uh huh!" The Level 0 says before giving her friend a teasing smirk. "Want to try it out? It'll probably look good on you!"

"Eh?!" The Level 1 blushes. "No, no, no! I don't think I have the courage to wear that!"

"Aw, don't be so stingy! It's perfect for you!" Saten pesters her.

"If you want Uiharu to where them so badly, why don't you try them on?" He bluntly asks her.

The girl suddenly blushes and gives an uncomfortable look at him.

"U-Uh, I-I don't know. I don't think I have the courage either." She shyly says. "I can't do it."

"You can't or you won't?" He question her further before realizing something. "Oh, I see. You're secretly a tsundere, aren't you?"

"W-Wha?! No I'm not!" She denies as her blush deepens.

"I agree, Theron." Uiharu smirks evilly. "They might look good on her than on me."

"U-Uiharu!" Saten shouts at her friend in shock with a gasp. "How could you?! Traitor!"

"Don't be shy, Saten!" The flower head girl insists as she grabs her friends hand and pulls her into a changing room.

Saten begins to stutter and argue with her, but it was no use as she is pushed into the room, leaving Uiharu and Theron to wait for her to change into the bikini.

"Phew!" Uiharu sighs in relief. "That was too close. She almost had me. But other than that, thanks for turning the tables on her, Theron."

"No problem." He shrugs. "I'm just concerned that one day her constant teasing is gonna come back to bite her in the ass. So I thought of teaching her on not taking things too far, ya know."

"Yeah, I'd figured you'd say that." She chuckles. "You seem the kind of guy that's not perverted and all. Believe me, Kamijou isn't the type either. Then again, from what Misaka once told us, he has a huge streak of bad luck."

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck. Maybe he's clumsy." He speculates.

"I don't think so. Misaka says it's true."

"Huh? No way. Tell me you're kidding."

"Sorry, but I'm really not." She shakes her head.

"That so? Curious."

The curtains to the changing room open, and the two had shocked looks on their faces when they saw what type of bikini Saten's wearing.

"Holy shit..." He utters, loss at words, blushing.

"S-Saten!" Uiharu gasps with a red face on her.

Saten is wearing a red and white striped bikini and a pair of tight thongs, completely showing her rather impressive C-cup bust size and cute butt cheeks.

"U-Um..." Saten stutters as she blushes madly and shyly looks away. "What do you think, Theron?"

"Wow." He says, deepening his own blush. "You look... sexy. And that's an impressive rack and ass you got there."

"R-Really?" She shyly questions. "Y-you like my body?"

"W-Well no, I-!" He stutters, making things awkward between them. "Um..."

Saten then looks down and she gasps at what she is looking at.

"Saten, what's wrong?" Uiharu asks.

"Um... Theron's... um..." She stutters again as her eyes look away, already reaching the limit of her blushing as her heart is already beating faster once more.

"Huh?" He says in confusion before looking down. Instantly, he freezes in panic.

_"Damnnnnnnnnnnn!" He curses aloud in his thoughts._

**...**

Soon, curfew came into effect as students begin leaving the mall to return to their dorms, leaving the group by themselves.

"It's getting late, and some of the shops are closing up." Shirai points out as some of the lights in both stores and the entire mall are off. "We should-. Um, why are your faces red?"

Saten, Uiharu, and Theron all had blushes on their faces as they felt very embarrassed about it.

"No. Comment." The Jedi grumbles.

"You don't want to know." Uiharu says, agreeing with the Jedi.

Saten didn't say a word, not wanting to explain what happened in the swimwear shop.

Before Misaka and Shirai could question them further, Theron's backpack starts moving and the Child opens up the top of the bag with a confused look before yawning from taking a nap. While Saten and Misaka already knew about the baby earlier, Uiharu and Shirai had surprised looks on their faces.

"Hey little guy." Theron turns his head with a smile at the kid in the bag. "Seems you're awake."

"What is that?!" Shirai shouts as she has never seen a creature like it before.

Uiharu gasps and walks toward the bag on Theron's back.

"Oh my gosh, he's so cute!" She gushes over the baby who then tilts his head curiously. "Hi there!"

The Child coos in response and reaches out to her. Uiharu giggles and let's him hold her finger in response. Shirai on the other hand, gave a look at the Jedi as she wants an explanation.

"Long story short, I went off-world and ended up finding the kid." He briefly explains, not wanting to explain the whole thing again.

"What?!" Shirai and Uiharu exclaimed.

"We'll explain it to you later, guys." Misaka says to the Judgement girls.

Shirai gave an annoyed glare at Theron but nods in understanding from her roommate.

"So" Shirai changes the topic and looks at the kid on the Jedi's back. "Who's this?"

"A kid I found on a planet all alone." He explains. "I couldn't leave him for someone else to find him, so I brought him in for the time being until I can find a home form or his homeworld."

"So in other words, you're planning to find a home for him?" The Teleporter concludes as she points a finger at the baby.

The Child looks at her finger and instead of reaching out for it to hold onto, he bites it.

"Ahhh!" She yelps in pain, pulling her finger back and holding it. "What the hell!"

"He really doesn't like you for some reason." The Jedi comments as the baby laughs, earning giggles from the other girls.

"You think?!" She says while blowing on her bitten finger. "I didn't do anything wrong that made him not liking me!"

"I don't know, Kuroko." Misaka begins to wonder. "Maybe he doesn't like you because you seem to be perverted whenever you decided to sexually assault me."

Shirai opens her mouth to give a pathetic excuse and quickly looks at the Child, who then coos in response. The Level 4 then shuts her mouth closed and sighs in defeat.

"Damn it." She curses under her breath. "There's something about that baby that's keeping me from arguing back at Sissy."

"Hey, is it okay if I carry him?" Saten asks, wanting to spend more time with the baby.

"Sure." He answers with a smile and hands the backpack to her.

Now in her hands, the Force sensitive girl looks at the Child, who laughs happily at her, and smiles warmly at him.

"Wow, Saten. Looks like you have a motherly trait after all." Uiharu teases her friend.

Saten's cheeks turn red and nervously chuckles.

Meanwhile, Theron senses a disturbance in the Force as he looks behind him for anything unusual. His friends notice his suspicious expression.

"What is it?" Misaka asks.

"I'm not sure." He answers. "It seems there's a disturbance in the Force."

With the child on her back, Saten also senses it too.

"Yeah. I feel... darkness from it." She says as her eyes widen.

The Child whimpers and hides inside the backpack.

"It's a trap, isn't it?" He asks blankly.

The girls became confused with his question and suddenly, the security shutter instantly slammed down, cutting Theron off from his friends.

"Yep. It's a trap." He sighs in annoyance.

Turning around, he sees the Inquisitor standing before him.

"I thought we hunted down what little is left of your kind centuries ago." He speaks (in his Sam Witwer voice) aloud to the young Jedi. "Strange. I've never heard of any Jedi that's been hiding out on this backwater of a planet. No known records from the old Jedi archives back in the old Galaxy, and yet... you're the last of them and their dogmatic Order. Still, I've been tasked in bringing you in alive, but that doesn't mean in one piece."

Theron remains silent as he observes the Inquisitor turning his back on him as the latter continues monologuing.

"But most importantly, I'm here for the child." He continues and turns his head. "So tell me, where have you hidden him?"

The Jedi's only reaction was retaliation as he ignites his sapphire lightsaber blade in the barely lit halls of the Seventh Mist.

"Persistent." The dark side user says with no surprise in his voice before turning face to face with the Jedi and takes out his own lightsaber, igniting the red blade.

The Inquisitor makes his first move and jumps in the air before striking down on Theron who rolls out of the way, leaving the former's blade lodged into the floor. He then pulls his red blade out and parries the boy's Form IV attacks with his Form II Makashi one handed fighting style. He breaks the boy's stamina and Force pushes him down.

"Pathetic like the rest of your fallen Order." He mocks him with little emotion in his voice.

Theron gets back up and quickly strikes at him, but the Jedi hunter just keeps blocking each blow.

"Your attacks and defenses are sloppy." The Inquisitor taunts and comments as he now goes on the offensive. "It seems you haven't fought an opponent with a lightsaber in years. I sense that you are weak in the Force. And you call yourself a Jedi."

Theron grits his teeth as he then uses the Force to lift items from the shop displays and telekinetically throws them at his opponent, who easily cuts them down or sidesteps the thrown objects. This left an opening in his defenses and Theron changes to Form V, using his brute strength to break the Inquisitor's guard as Form II's fencing style is weak against Form V's heavy, brute attacks. The Jedi then kicks him down and slams his blade onto the Inquisitor's three times. Now in a saber lock, Theron chokeholds the Inquisitor who at first, struggles in breaking free.

Now seeing a small opening the Inquisitor surprisingly unleashes Force lightning onto the Jedi, electrocuting him. Unlike Misaka's own lightning, this Force power causes pain to the opponent and weakens him. The lightning telekinetically sends Theron crashing through a window outside the mall. The Inquisitor sheaths his blade and jumps outside just as the shutter reopens thanks to Misaka's and Uiharu's teamwork as the security systems have been upgraded to prevent another Graviton bombing that occurred last July.

"Oh no." Saten says in fear as she notices the broken window.

She then runs to it with her friends behind her and she gasps. The girls see that Theron's dueling an armored figure with a red lightsaber.

"We have to help Theron!" She says as she then makes for downstairs, not wanting to jump out of the window and help him.

"Saten, wait!" Uiharu follows her, leaving Misaka and Shirai looking outside of the broken window.

**...**

Theron's lightsaber is knocked out of his hands and was then Force pushed down on the quiet streets. Grey clouds started giving off thunder, covering the sunset.

"Do you have anything to say?" The Inquisitor asks. "I would like to hear you speak before I break you apart. Piece by piece."

"W-What... are you called?" Theron asks.

"I am known as the Second Brother. And you will know the power of the dark side of the Force."

"Um, Second Brother? Yeah, um, listen. I noticed that your helmet is cool looking. Are you by any chance a Mandalorian or did you made that helmet out of durasteel just so you can mock them?" Theron trolls at his enemy.

The Second Brother growls in anger and Force lifts him up, grabbing him by the face as the Jedi struggles to break free. He then has his red lightsaber blade close to Theron's face.

"I will make sure you stay awake long enough to feel every cut. You will suffer and crack... as I and others once have."

"Go to hell."

Just then, lightning from Misaka is fired at the Inquisitor as he dislocates his shoulder and tosses him aside before raising his lightsaber up and blocks the lightning, absorbing it. Theron, meanwhile, held back a scream of agonizing pain as he grits his teeth and held onto it.

"I'm guessing the Empire sent you to kill my friend." Misaka guesses.

"This doesn't concern you, girl. He's coming with me."

"Like hell you are!" She shouts in anger.

Just then, Shirai appears from thin air and shows him her Judgement armband.

"In name of Judgement, I'm placing you under arrest for manslaughter, murder, and trespassing in this city!" Shirai announces as the Second Brother remains unfazed by her words.

"How quaint of you." He says before chuckling. "This is your only warning. Leave now and I will spare your lives."

"That's not gonna happen!" She refuses, earning a nod from Misaka. "You think you have power over Academy City? You don't. You would use your power to help enslave entire worlds and kill anyone that gets in your way."

"I do have power, primitive. One that you're not aware of."

He then notices Saten and Uiharu run out of the mall and they noticed Theron injured as he is on his knees, gripping the dislocated shoulder.

"Let him go!" Saten shouts in anger.

"And what if I don't want to?" He questions and notices the Child on her back.

Before he could do anything else, the Second Brother senses something behind him and unleashed Force lightning onto Theron who blocks it with both hands. It didn't last as it then went out of control and created an explosion, creating a blinding white light.

**...**

Saten wakes up on the streets with a headache alongside her friends. Then they noticed that the Second Brother isn't here. And even if he was dead, there would've been a body.

"Ow, my head." She says before noticing that the baby isn't in the bag on her back. "Wait, where is he?!"

Her friends looked around, hoping that they didn't lose the Child. Just then, they heard babbles coming from the baby as he pokes out of hiding behind small debris.

"Awww, were you hiding from us? She gushes at the baby who reaches out to her and she carries him. "Yes, I know. That was really loud for your big ole ears, weren't they?"

"Saten, over here!" Misaka shouts. "You need to see this!"

The Level 0 hears her and meets up with her friends as they are looking at something with shocked looks on their faces. Saten gasps and notices that Theron has his clothes torn up and is injured from the explosion, bleeding. Theron was unconscious and She crouches beside him in panic.

"Theron!" She cries out. "Oh my God!"

"Uiharu, I'll contact Anti-Skill about what happened while you call for an ambulance." Shirai says to her partner.

"I'm on it." Uiharu nods as she does so.

Saten notices Theron's lightsaber on the side and picks it up before keeping it safe for him. She then looks at his unconscious body and starts tearing up.

"Hang on, Theron! Help's on its way!" She cries out as she covers her face on his torn jacket, hoping that he'll make it.

"We better hurry. He looks bad." Misaka says aloud in full concern as rain starts falling.

**To be continued...**


	34. Act 2: Chapter 19

**Act 2: Chapter 19: Galactic History 101: The ****Hundred-Year Darknes****s and The ****Great Hyperspace War**

**August 5, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**School District 7**

**Heaven Canceller's Hospital**

Theron slowly opens his eyes before sitting up straight. He looks around and sees that he's in a hospital room, given the heart monitoring equipment next to him. The boy looks to his left and sees that it's already morning. Before he could do anything, the door to his hospital room opens up and a certain frog-face doctor walks in.

"Ah, I see that you're finally awake." The doctor known as Heaven Canceller says. "I guess my estimations of when you would be waking up are off for the first time in years."

"How long was I out?" Theron asks the doctor.

"Two days at best. It seems you just woke up a day earlier from the usual timetable."

"What?" The Jedi says in slight shock.

"Allow me to explain. Your friends brought you here for medical treatment. I managed to do what I could to heal you, but from the x-rays I took a look at, your body has injuries I've never seen before and the broken or dislocated bones I was only able to repair, both of them-."

"I'm gonna stop you right there, doc." He interrupted the doctor. "Tell me you didn't mention this to my friends."

"I only told them about the injuries you sustained, not about the non-recent broken bones and 'other' injuries I healed for you. I think there's a story behind that. One you might need to tell them about."

Theron looks away, relieved that this frog-face doctor didn't say anything about his old wounds.

"By the way, one of your friends has been visiting you for the past two days from morning to night. I believe it was Miss Saten. She was really anxious to keep visiting you while you were asleep."

"Thanks for the news, doc." Theron says, not making contact with him.

"Of course." Heaven Canceller nods. "Tomorrow you'll be released from here once we go over the necessities of your condition later this afternoon."

"No thanks." He quickly refuses. "I don't need anything to go on record."

"I'm sorry, but you have to understand that I always treat and care for my patients, no matter the injuries he/she has sustained."

"Then do it off record." Theron suggests. "I don't want any of my enemies to backtrack it to find me."

"I understand. In that case, I'll leave you two alone." Heaven Canceller says before leaving the room, sliding the door shut behind him.

Theron looks up and sees that R4 has exit the shadows and starts beeping at him, happy that the Jedi's alright.

"Never mind that, R4." Theron says before getting angry at him. "Where the hell have you been? And why aren't I back at our house so only you could medically treat my injuries?"

"There's more to that frog-face doctor, meatbag." R4 beeps, explaining that it's not his fault. "By the time I tracked you here, your transponder that you placed inside your arm was no longer online. I think the guy that treated you here removed it."

"Shit. I figured he'd do that." The boy curses under his breath. "In that case, we should modify it with a few minor security upgrades when we get back, so he doesn't do it again. Nothing major, R4. Kay?"

"Fine." The astromech grumbles disappointingly.

Theron looks to his bedside and notices his lightsaber hilt on a small table. He uses the Force to summon it into his hands and looks at it.

"The girls told me what happened." R4 says, changing the topic. "An Inquisitor, huh?"

"Yeah." The Jedi answers.

**...**

It is now 9 in the morning as Saten once again walks down the hospital halls with the Child in her own school bag alongside her own breakfast she packed up, though it's a lot more for her to eat so she planned on sharing it with the pointy eared infant. Sliding the door open, she enters her friend's hospital room and sees that Theron's awake with R4 beside his bed.

"You're awake!" She says with relief and happiness as she approaches his bed and sets down the bags on another bed. "I thought you'd be up till tomorrow."

"I'm a tough cookie. An explosion like that won't kill me that easily." He casually waves his hand.

Saten chuckles at how funny he can be with his words. But then she lightly punches him in the arm.

"The hell was that for?" He questions in confusion.

"For scaring me and the others." She explains. "If it wasn't for the frog-face doctor, you'd already be dead."

"Fair point." He admits before his stomach growls loudly. "Man, I'm hungry. Being asleep for two days isn't what I had in mind."

Saten grins as she takes out a large box and opens it up, revealing food that's enough for three people.

"Well, since I packed more food than I thought, I planned on sharing it with the baby and now that you're awake, I don't have to save it as leftovers at my dorm."

"You cooked that all by yourself?" He says with a surprised look. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." She says proudly while serving both small dishes for the Jedi and the Child before serving herself. "Dig in, guys."

**...**

**Minutes later...**

"That was great, Saten! Your homemade cooking skills are amazing!" He praises in awe.

"Aw, that's very sweet of you." She smiles with a wink and giggle.

The two teenagers laugh together before calming down.

"Still, I'm glad you came and watched over me. But I'm still not a fan of hospitals."

"Why?"

Before Theron could explain, the door to his room slides open and Misaka, Shirai, Uiharu, and Konori enter the room.

"Theron!" Uiharu exclaimed in happiness. "R4 called us that you woke up and we got here as fast as we could!"

"That was some impressive duelling." Shirai compliments. "But who exactly was that?"

"Yeah." Misaka agrees with her best friend. "He doesn't look like any Stormtrooper we ran into before."

"An Imperial Inquisitor." Theron says with a frown. "He's a Force User that hunts surviving Jedi or Force sensitive children."

"What?!" They exclaimed in shock.

"If he and others like him hunt children, then they must've known about the kid. Possibly Saten's strong connection to the Force."

Saten's eyes widened and looks at the small green infant with big pointy ears who is finishing his breakfast. So this is what Theron meant when he said that if he begins teaching her the ways of the Force, she'll become a target like him, including the Child. It all makes sense.

"Then it's obviously that the Inquisitor two nights ago is still alive from that lightning explosion Shirai and Uiharu mentioned in their report." Konori deduces.

"And he won't stop until he either destroys me and Saten, or turn us to the dark side and become Inquisitors as well." He agrees with the chief Judgement officer.

The Force sensitive Level 0 gulps nervously as she starts being afraid of the idea of becoming a slave to the dark side of the Force.

"Can Inquisitors learn to use lightning from that night?" Misaka wonders aloud. "He shot lightning at you from his fingertips."

"No. Their training has been limited by their master in charge of the Inquisitorious." He answers. "But that makes no sense. The Second Brother-."

"Huh?" His friends question in confusion.

"The name of the Inquisitor." He explains getting nods from them. "The Second Brother shouldn't know about Force Lightning as he and the other Inquisitors aren't allowed to further their knowledge of the dark side, unless... he's become an apprentice to his master."

In his thoughts, however, he's more confused. Why would the Second Brother be a Sith apprentice if he's still an Inquisitor with the second ranking within the Inquisitorious as he should be the second most powerful Jedi Hunter within their ranks? But that could only mean one thing: he's been growing stronger in the Force long before Theron even came to this galaxy, meaning he's stronger than the Grand Inquisitor of this galaxy. The only question is, how long exactly?

"An apprentice?" Shirai questions him. "To whom?"

"He's apprenticed to someone far worse." Theron answers hesitantly. _"Someone that's not Vader, who is even more worse."_

"What?" Saten asks.

"A Sith Lord." He bluntly says. "The ancient enemy of the Jedi."

"The Sith?" They curiously said in unison.

"I think it's time we continue our history lesson." He says before beginning his story again_._

_Eighteen thousand years after the Old Republic and the Jedi Order was founded (7000 BBY), a group of Jedi starting looking for alternatives on using the Force. They believed that using the light side exclusively held the Order back, preventing them reaching their full potential alongside the dark side of the Force. When they brought their findings to the Jedi Council, they refused, leading to the group in turning to the dark side and become Dark Jedi._

_This led to a conflict that forever became known as the Hundred-Year Darkness. And a century later (6,900 BBY), the fallen Jedi were defeated and instead of being executed right then and there, the Jedi convinced the Old Republic to exile them and they eventually agreed, to which the rogue group were then banished deep into the Outer Rim with the Jedi believing that they will see the error of their ways._

"Sounds like that would definitely later come back to biting them in the ass." Misaka jokingly comments.

"Yeah." Theron agrees. "The Jedi became directly and indirectly responsible for making the biggest mistake of their lives. And instead of compromising and working together in learning to use both sides of the Force, the Jedi began showing small signs of self-righteousness and arrogance, slowly becoming dogmatic that the dark side is entirely evil. It can become addiction, but it's not evil."

The girls nod, understanding what he's somewhat trying to say, especially Saten. She recalls that like drugs, her envy of having power became an obsession, nearly killing her. She may be still traumatized by those events, but at least she's grateful that Theron has talked to her about it.

"Do you know what happened to the exiled Dark Jedi?" The Level 0 asks him.

He nods, knowing that it was one of the old Galaxy's important outcomes that led to the Great Hyperspace War.

_After being exiled into the Unknown Regions, the Dark Jedi ended up settling on the mountainous, red sanded world that would one day be known as Moraband. But during the time of the Old Republic and even before that, the planet was simply known as Korriban. On Korriban, the Dark Jedi encountered the primitive red skinned Sith species. Using their training in the Force, the fallen Jedi amazed the red skinned species and the former were revered as gods to the pure-blooded Sith. Many decades passed as interbreeding occurred between the Dark Jedi and Sith, and the term 'Sith' came to mean not only Korriban's original inhabitants, but also their fallen masters. Now known as the Sith Empire, their existence remains unknown to the Old Republic._

_1,900 years later (5000 BBY), a power struggle broke out within the Sith Empire, following the death of its recent Sith ruler. Among the contenders was Naga Sadow, a Dark Lord of the Sith. At this time, however, two Republic explorers accidentally stumbled onto Korriban, to which Sadow seized this unexpected opportunity to gain political advantage. The explorers, meanwhile, were then imprisoned as spies and the dark lord himself staged an attack to liberate them. He then left evidence that suggested the attack was a military operation by the Old Republic. Sadow later then convinced his people to unite and rally behind his cause, with the Sith fearing of an impending widespread Republic invasion. He then launched a preemptive strike against the Sith Empire's newly discovered enemy. Thus, he became the very first Dark Lord in believing that the Sith are destined to rule the old Galaxy itself._

_The Sith then embraced Sadow as their new ruler, eager for only war. And so, his first act was launching a head on assault against the Old Republic, beginning the Great Hyperspace War. The Sith armies attacked on several fronts within Republic territory, including its capital planet of Coruscant._

"Coruscant?" Uiharu interrupts with a curious question.

"It's a planet that's entirely one huge city. No joke." Theron briefly describes.

"Eh?!" The girls exclaimed, disbelieved at this.

An entire planet is one city?!" Shirai exclaims in disbelief. "But that's impossible! No civilization, let alone a galactic power, are capable of building a huge city that covers an entire world!"

The Jedi chuckles, admitting that he found it difficult to believe at first.

_Sadow himself commanded his forces in a meditation sphere, suspended over a giant star. On the Old Republic's side, meanwhile, its defenses were unprepared as the Sith Empire's onslaught overwhelmed them. Wielding protosabers (the first known lightsaber design) since the Hundred-Year Darkness, the Jedi Order stepped in and helped the Old Republic in its fight against the Sith (wielding lightsaber proof metal swords). Their enemy was close to victory, but soon the Sith's winning chance was short-lived. The dark lord was betrayed by his apprentice who was then quickly defeated. This broke Sadow out of his battle meditation._

"Turning the tide of the war in the end." Misaka guesses, earning a nod from Theron.

_The Sith were lost without their leader's direction, and the Republic soon chases them back to the very doorstep of Sadow's meditation sphere. Seeing his imminent defeat, he abandoned his forces and started a chain of events to destroy the nearby star and everything in its vicinity. The Sith ruler fled back to Korriban, only to discover renewed opposition to his rule over the Sith Empire. Civil War soon broke out, whittling away what was left of the empire's weakened forces. Although he defeated them, the Sith were shortly thereafter defenseless against the arrived attack of the Republic fleet. As the fleet wiped out the last remaining Sith forces, Sadow fled again, only this time into permanent exile on the jungle moon of Yavin 4._

"So Naga Sadow cowardly abandoned his own people, never to be seen again?" Saten guesses with a disgusted tone in her voice. "Some ruler he is."

"You can say that again." Theron agrees with her as he felt the same thing she and the other girls are feeling about. "And that's why his rushed and reckless plan backfired, lasting the Great Hyperspace War for merely a month or less.

_Meanwhile, the Old Republic and Jedi realized their mistake of not killing the Dark Jedi that became the first Sith Lords at the end of the Hundred-Year Darkness. Although the Sith no longer posed a threat, the Supreme Chancellor was unsatisfied and ordered a full on eradication of any known remnants of the Sith Empire, including the Sith's homeworld Korriban itself. Alas, the Great Hyperspace War came to an end._

"And so, paranoia struck him like the back of a moving truck." Konori jokingly comments, earn a few laughs from her friends.

"This outcome only made things even worse that would jump start future conflicts between the Jedi and the Sith." He facepalms at the stupidity of the Jedi Order and Old Republic.

"And now we got a Sith Lord and his Inquisitors within the Empire, who are clearly interested in Theron, the kid, and me." The Force sensitive Level 0 concludes.

"Yeah." He agrees, hesitant in telling his friends more about his past.

Saten senses hesitation within his well-protected thoughts. After Theron was injured, the girl began meditating through the Force to train her vulnerable mind as the Jedi instructed to her. Her training in building up her mental barriers is slow but at least she's beginning to somewhat make progress. Still, her barriers are nowhere near as strong or almost strong as the boy's own mental barriers.

"Hey guys, can I talk to Theron alone?" Saten asks her friends as she is carrying the Child in her hands. "There's something I want to ask him about."

Her friends were hesitant at first, but they understood her and they immediately waited outside of Theron's hospital room along with R4 and the Child, who was given to the astromech by the girl to watch over. When the door closes, Saten turns face-to-face to her friend she's crushing on with crossed arms and a serious face.

"Alright, spill it." She demands. "What are you hesitant about telling us something we want to know about."

Theron sighs heavily and looks up at her.

"You know the frog-face doctor told you about my injuries right?" He reminds his friend, in which she nods in confirmation. "Well, he didn't tell you about the ones that weren't recent. And unlike the non recent broken bones I sustained, I'm hesitant in telling you in front of the others. The only one that knows of this is myself and R4."

Saten's eyes widened in a state of shock.

"What do you mean?" She further questions sitting down on the side of the boy's bed.

Theron takes a deep breath and pulls the blanket off of him and sits beside her on his bed.

"When my master was killed by an Inquisitor, I was captured and taken to a remote volcanic mining world called Mustafar." He explains. "I was imprisoned in a Gothic castle as the Empire wanted to know about my master, to say the least. Then, this dark shadow came. He was a Sith Lord but... he was unlike any of the ones I've heard about. He governs over the Inquisitorious alongside the Emperor in the old Galaxy. He... tortured me for wanting answers, and I resisted. But not without a cost. He almost broke me and... I ended up with these."

He stands up and pulls off the hospital gown over him, and Saten gasps in horror at what she's seeing before her. His chest and back are covered in deep lightsaber cuts from Vader and not when the boy first fought against the Second Brother. The girl stands up and looks closely at his scarred chest and back. She then tries to touch them with her fingers but Theron stops her by grabbing her wrist and let go of it.

"Theron... did he... do this to you?" She asks as tears in her eyes are showing.

"Yes." He says while looking away. "I don't think they could ever be healed, Saten. I'm still tied to my traumatic experience I had in the Sith's castle. He forced me into training to become an Inquisitor. Knowing that I had no other choice, I played along and... embraced the dark side without it fully consuming me... to survive and find a way to escape off-planet. Plan after plan, he recaptured me multiple times within and outside of his fortress. A year after I was imprisoned, R4 finally rescued me and we managed to escape. Three years after that, well... you know the rest."

_"Could that noise in Theron's memories belong to the same Sith Lord that imprisoned him?" Saten wonders, fearful of that horrifying, raspy breathing._

The girl suddenly hugs him in comfort, feeling really sympathetic for what the boy went through.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that." She says as tears got onto his scarred chest.

"Don't be. Now dry those tears. I hate to see you all sad like this." He reassures with a smile.

She looks up and smiles, drying her own tears away.

"R-Right."

She looks at his chest and started staring.

_"Whoa. He looks a bit buff with those impressive muscles he's showcasing." Saten says in thought. _

_"Her hands and fingers are so soft." He says to himself as he sees her attractive fingers touching his scarred chest._

The two then look at each other, gazing into each other's eyes. Then, something took over them as they're in a trance. The two close their eyes and Saten stands on her toes to lean in as their lips move closer to each other.

Unfortunately, the door slides open and the two teen broke away quickly with embarrassing blushes on their faces when their friends came back inside the room. Luckily, Theron put the hospital gown back on just in time.

_"What the hell did I just do?!" She exclaims in her mind, flustered beyond relief as her heart starts beating without realizing the reason what she almost did. "Oh God, I almost kissed him! What is wrong with you, Ruiko?! Control yourself!"_

"Hey Saten, why are you and Theron blushing?" Uiharu asks her best friend before gasping. "I knew it! You two are into each other!"

"W-What?! No!" Saten denies, deepening her blush. "He and I are friends. Right, Theron?"

"Yep." He agrees, successfully lying to the others and getting rid of his blushing.

"It's obvious you like him." Misaka smirks evilly. "Besides, this is payback for teasing me about being with that idiot."

"But I told you, it's not like that!" She angrily shouts at her friends giving her teasing looks.

Theron chuckles at the comedic scene. He walks toward the window and looks out at the nice morning view of Academy City, and places his right hand under his chin.

_"Looks like this is far from over." He says in his thoughts._

**End of Act 2**


	35. Galactic Timeline (Part 1)

**Disclaimer: The first part of this story's canon timeline has been rewritten to fit with the more aligned Disney Canon timeline. None of this is officially canon by both Disney and Lucasfilm.**

**Old Republic Era**** (circa BBY(Before Battle of Yavin))**

**25,000 BBY - **The Formation of the Old Republic and Jedi Order

**...**

**7000 BBY - **Dark Jedi rebel against the Jedi Order, sparking the Hundred-Year Darkness

**...**

**6900 BBY - **Dark Jedi defeated and later exiled deep in the Outer Rim, eventually landing on Korriban; End of the Hundred-Year Darkness

**...**

**5000 BBY - **The Great Hyperspace War begins and ends, thus destroying the Old Sith Empire; Sith Empire ruler Naga Sadow permanently went into exile on Yavin 4, never to be seen again

**...**

**3996 BBY -** Exar Kun turns to the dark side and forms the Brotherhood of the Sith and his own Sith Empire; The Great Sith War (aka the Exar Kun War) begins and ends, death of Exar Kun and imprisonment of his spirit on Yavin 4; collapse of the Brotherhood of the Sith and Exar Kun's Sith Empire

**...**

**3976 BBY -** Mandalore the Ultimate and his Neo-Crusaders begin raiding Althir III, sparking the Mandalorian Wars

**...**

**3963 BBY - **An unnamed, charismatic young Jedi that'll later be renamed Revan leads a splinter group of Jedi rebels against the Jedi Council to take part in helping the Old Republic against the Mandalorians during the war, thus naming the Jedi movement the Revanchists; tide of the war slowly turns around

**...**

**3960 BBY -** Mandalore the Ultimate single-handedly slayed by Revan above the moon Malachor V; the Mass Shadow Generator wipes out most of the Mandalorians on Malachor V, sacrificing hundreds of Jedi and Old Republic forces in the process and ending the Mandalorian Wars

**...**

**3659 BBY - **A year after turning to the dark side on a hunt for the reformed Sith Empire in the Unknown Regions, Darth Revan and his apprentice Darth Malak located the Star Forge, and created their own Sith Empire; Revan's Sith Empire invades the Old Republic, beginning the Jedi Civil War

**...**

**3957 BBY - **Revan is betrayed by Malak, leaving the former in a coma and the latter usurps the title of Dark Lord of the Sith; the Jedi Knight known as Bastila Shan brings the comatose Revan back to the Jedi Council and wiped his memories, creating a new identity for him and would later be retrained as a Jedi

**...**

**3956 BBY - **The Battle of Rakata Prime occurs and the Star Forge that Revan's former Sith Empire used to start the Jedi Civil War is found; Revan redeems himself and becomes a Jedi once more and kills Malak; Star Forge is then destroyed and the Jedi Civil War ends; Sometime after Malak's death, Revan's former Sith Empire enters a power struggle, thus beginning the Sith Civil War on Korriban

**...**

**3954 BBY - **Darth Traya (Revan's former Jedi Master-turned-Sith Lord) rose to power along with her two Sith apprentices known as Darth Nihilus (the Lord of Hunger) and Darth Sion (the Lord of Pain) and formed the Sith Triumvirate from the remnants of Revan's former empire on Malachor V; the First Jedi Purge and campaign against the Old Republic begins; Traya overthrown by Nihilus and Sion not long after the beginning of the purge

**...**

**3951 BBY - **Nihilus killed on Citadel Station over Telos IV; Sion and Traya killed on Malachor V before entire moon itself is destroyed, ending the Dark Wars that began four years prior (3955 BBY); First Jedi Purge ends

**...**

**3950 BBY - **Remnants of Revan's former Sith Empire finally collapsed after six years of constant infighting; End of the Sith Civil War

**...**

**3681 BBY - **Thirteen centuries after the Great Hyperspace War, the newly rebuilt Sith Empire returned from the Unknown Regions to enact revenge against the Jedi Order and the Old Republic, taking Korriban back in the process; the Great Galactic War (aka the First Galactic War) begins

**...**

**3667 BBY - **The Battle of Alderaan begins and ends with the defeat of Darth Malgus and his invasion army

**...**

**3653 BBY - **The Sith Empire's Dark Council offers the Old Republic a chance to negotiate a peace treaty known as the Treaty of Coruscant, to which the Republic Senate and the Jedi couldn't ignore, so the peace talks took place on Alderaan; at the same time, however, the Sacking of Coruscant took place as a final card for the Sith Empire to play; the peace treaty is signed and the Great Galactic War comes to an end; The Cold War (Old Republic era) begins

**...**

**3642 BBY - **Treaty of Coruscant broken and the conflict between the Sith Empire and the Old Republic begins again; the Galactic War (aka the Second Galactic War) begins

**...**

**3636 BBY - **War comes at a stalemate when the Eternal Empire conquers the known galaxy that began a year prior (3637 BBY) with the near eradication of both the Sith Empire and Old Republic, forcing them to sign treaties with the Eternal Empire; the Eternal Empire becomes the dominant galactic power; the Galactic War ends

**...**

**3632 BBY **\- Revolt against the Eternal Empire begins

**...**

**3630 BBY - **The former Sith Emperor, and later Eternal Emperor known as Vitiate (under the name Valkorian), dies for the last time on Zakuul in a final confrontation with the former Hero of Tython known as the Outlander; the Eternal Empire is reorganized into the Eternal Alliance; Sometime later, the Sith Empire attacks a hidden Jedi Colony on the Jedi library world of Ossus with Darth Malgus revealing to be alive after his supposed death years prior, thus sparking the Third Galactic War between the Sith Empire, the Old Republic, and the Eternal Alliance

**...**

**Prior to 3522 BBY - **The Third Galactic War ends; collapse of the Eternal Alliance

**...**

**Prior to 1019 BBY - **A battle takes place between the Jedi Order and the Sith Empire on the rocky wasteland planet of Malachor (not to be confused with the extinct moon of Malachor V), ending at a stalemate and is dubbed as the Great Scourge of Malachor; centuries later, the Jedi-Sith War begins when the Sith Empire took over Coruscant and the Old Republic falls; the Mandalorain-Jedi War begins

**...**

**1019 BBY - **The Mandalorian-Jedi War ends with the planet Mandalore becoming a lifeless, white desert wasteland in the process; the Jedi-Sith War ends with the near eradication of the Sith, leaving Darth Bane as the sole survivor that would later go on to establish the Rule of Two; the Sith operate in secrecy for the next thousand years; the Jedi Temple on the planet is rebuilt years after the Sacking of Coruscant; Coruscant liberated after the Sith were defeated; the Old Republic is reorganized into the Galactic Republic, thus disbanding its military branches


	36. Interlude I (Part 4)

**Interlude I (Part 4): Prophecy of the Chosen On****e**

**32 BBY**

**Coruscant**

**[Anakin and Group to Coruscant (Instrumental) - The Phantom Menace OST plays]**

_The Naboo royal starship exits out of hyperspace, showcasing the city-covered planet of Coruscant in orbit along with its four moons. The ship flies toward the daytime part of the planet and has already went past the atmosphere. Inside the cockpit, Anakin is beside the ship's pilot as the latter flies past the city's tall skylines where a landing pad is waiting for the ship to land._

_"Coruscant. The entire planet is one big city." The pilot briefly describes before engaging the ship's landing gear. "There's Chancellor Valorum's shuttle. And look over there. Senator Palpatine is waiting for us."_

**_In the back where Theron watching the vision of the past, he perked up at the mention of the Naboo senator's name and frowned, gritting his teeth in pure anger._**

_The large ship slowly lands on the floating landing platform within the city skyline that towers past the clouds below. Not long after, the queen and her people - along with her Jedi escort and the Force sensitive boy - exit the ship where Sheev Palpatine (yes, Sheev is literally his real first name; LOL) warmly welcomes his homeworld's queen and Jedi to the Republic capital as Chancellor Valorum (and his Senate Guard escort) arrives beside him._

_"It is a great gift to see you alive, your Majesty." Palpatine greets in relief. "With the communications breakdown, we've been very concerned. I'm anxious to hear your report on the situation. May I present Supreme Chancellor Valorum."_

_"Welcome, your Highness." Finis Valorum greets with his arms behind his back. "It's an honor to finally meet you in person."_

_"Thank you, Supreme Chancellor." Queen Amidala says as everyone starts walking._

_"I must relay to you how distressed everyone is over the current situation." The Republic leader informs. "I've called for a special session of the Senate to hear your opposition."_

_"I'm grateful for your concern, Chancellor." The queen appreciates before she, Palpatine, Anakin, Jar Jar, Padme (in her handmaiden attire), and the handmaidens walk towards an air taxi that'll take them to the Naboo senator's apartment to discuss some details regarding the session in the Senate courts._

_Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Valorum stayed behind as the group heads for the air taxi, and the Jedi Master turns his head toward the Republic's leader._

_"I must speak with the Jedi Council immediately." Qui-Gon informs the Chancellor. "The situation has become much more complicated."_

**_Theron was standing next to the ship's boarding ramp, listening in on the conversations._**

**_"This must be when Naboo was occupied by the Trade Federation. Twenty years ago." He comments to himself aloud._**

**_"Wow! You weren't kidding when you said that Coruscant is one giant city with tall skylines!" A familiar voice says in awe. "This makes Academy City's own skyline look like child's play."_**

**_"Yeah." He nods before realizing who that voice belonged to._**

**_The Jedi turns to his right and sees a familiar girl next to him._**

**_"Oh for the love of-!" He face palms. "What are you doing here?"_**

**_"What?" Saten questions him in defense. "I just went to sleep and I ended up finding myself dreaming alongside you."_**

**_"Our new Force bond must've grown slightly stronger, triggering into having the same vision together." He realizes in shock._**

**_"Really?! That's so cool!" She says with excitement. "So what's this dream all about?"_**

**_"It's not a dream, Saten. It's a vision of the past." He explains. "And honestly, I don't know why I'm, or we, are dreaming of this in the first place."_**

**_"So we're actually watching historical events happening in front of us?" She concludes. "That's awesome!"_**

**_"Unfortunately, we can't interact with anyone here. In other words, we're spectral to the people around us."_**

**_"Awww." She whines in disappointment. "That sucks."_**

**_"What? It's a good thing. We can use this to our advantage."_**

**_"Um, how?" She asks in disbelief. "We're clearly invisible ghosts to them."_**

**_"Use your head, Saten." He rolls his eyes, annoyed with her obliviousness. "We listen in on the conversations."_**

**_Saten was slightly offended by his eye rolling but manages to stay her anger for now._**

**_"What exactly are we listening in? I'm confused." The girl ask, confused to what's going on._**

**_Theron briefly explains to her about what point in time they're in and why it's so important. This was a lot for her to take in but she nods in understanding._**

**_"So what happens now?" She asks him, now that she's fully curious._**

_Just then the vision changes and everything goes white._

**_..._**

**_"Wha-?" Saten blinks in confusion as everything around her and Theron changed. Then she looks up and gasps in awe. "Whoa..."_**

**The Jedi Temple**

**_Standing before them was the Jedi Temple of Coruscant. Located outside the planet's Federal district, the temple is constructed around a natural mountain spire along with its five crowned spires atop of the large temple._**

**_"This use to be the Jedi Temple." He narrates. "It was rebuilt after the Sacking of Coruscant that took place three thousand years ago. When the purge came and gone, however, the Emperor renovated this place as his own palace. Mainly because a Sith shrine was underneath the temple itself and the Jedi reduced it to nothingness when the Sith were nearly wiped out at the end of the Jedi-Sith War. Unfortunately, a small portion of the shrine was left intact and with power of the dark side, the energies clouded the Jedi's vision and collective use of the Force."_**

**_"Wow." She says while being awed at the temple's architecture and statues at the front entrance. "Wait, you said that the shrine's dark energies clouded the Jedi's vision. What do you mean by that?"_**

**_Theron looks away, angry that the old Jedi became an Order full of hypocrites and idiots. No wait, this has been going on since its foundation but much worse._**

**_"The Jedi Council got involved in politics and became complete, lazy idiots." He concludes bitterly._**

**_"Hypocrites, I get that. But lazy idiots? I don't know what you mean by that." She admits, though confused on that last part he said._**

**_"It's better if I show you inside the temple's Council Chamber." He says before heading on inside. "Come on, and stay close. These halls can be very huge to get lost in."_**

**_"How do you know so much about the Jedi Temple?" She asks, surprised that he knows about the inside of the temple despite spending his entire childhood on a different planet, while following him inside. "Didn't you live on a different planet?"_**

**_"On the edge of the old Galaxy beyond the Outer Rim." He answers as good memories flooded his head. "I spent my entire childhood there, though I did went to a few worlds alongside my master such as Dantooine, Kashyyyk, Lothal, Tatooine, even the ruins of the Great Jedi Library on Ossus. Founded a few ancient texts and artifacts for my short-lived training in that library. Good times."_**

**_"And it took the Sith a long time in discovering your homeworld." The girl concludes._**

**_"Three years, to be precise." He corrects her. "But yeah, I see what you're getting at."_**

**_"Damn. No wonder the Jedi and Sith never knew about you."_**

**_"Something like that." He chuckles._**

**_..._**

**_The teens took a lift up to the Council Chamber located in one of the temple's four small spires with the large and tallest one being in the center. When they arrived at the chamber's closed doors, they hear that a session is taking place inside the room._**

**_"Too bad we can't interact with some of the physical stuff." He mutters._**

**_"Come on, let's go see what they're talking about." The girl excitingly says to him._**

**_"R-Right." He nods._**

**_And just like that, they walked through the doors and see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan already finishing on giving their report to the Jedi Council._**

**_"Hey! That green guy in robes looks like the baby!" Saten point out at the old creature sitting in his council seat._**

**_"That would be Yoda." He explains. "Jedi Grandmaster and one of the wisest Jedi to date."_**

**_"How old is he?"_**

**_"He's in his eight hundreds." He bluntly says._**

**_"You're kidding?" She says with a surprised look._**

**_"Nope. And the kid right now is fifty years of age."_**

**_"Fifty years old?!" She says in disbelief. "A fifty year old baby... Oh God. Now I just made things awkward with him."_**

**_"You didn't. His species can live many centuries, in which humans can't." He assures her just before the two teens overhear Qui-Gon's report to the council._**

_"...he was trained in the Jedi arts. My only conclusion can be that it was... a Sith Lord." Qui-Gon concludes his report._

_The Jedi Council was in disbelief. And who can blame them? After all, there hasn't been any Sith seen in the last millennium._

_"Impossible." The Cerean Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi says in disbelief. "The Sith have been extinct for a millennium."_

_"I do not believe the Sith could've returned without us knowing." Jedi Master Mace Windu agrees, also finding it hard to believe in Qui-Gon's report._

_"Ah," Yoda agrees but isn't entirely sure either. "Hard to see the dark side is."_

**_"He talks funny." Saten snickers._**

**_"You'll get use to it." Theron says with a chuckle. "It's his way of talking to people."_**

_"We will use all our resources to unravel this mystery." The stoic Jedi Master with dark human skin says to Qui-Gon and his Padawan. "We will discover the identity of your attacker. May the Force be with you."_

_Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan bow, and the young Padawan begins walking out of the chamber but turns around to see that his master has more to report. Obi-Wan then stands by the exit, listening to what his persistent master has to say._

_"Master Qui-gon. More to say have you?" The Jedi Grandmaster asks._

_"With your permission, my master..." Qui-Gon begins. "I've encountered a vergence in the Force."_

_The twelve council members all perked up at this._

_"A vergence you say?" Yoda further asks._

_"Located around a person?" Windu specifies with his own question._

_"A boy." The tall man answers. "His cells have the highest concentration of midi-chlorians I have seen in a life form. It is possible he was conceived by the midi-chlorians."_

**_Theron's eyes widen in disbelief and shock, while Saten remains confused._**

**_"That word again." She mutters. "Hey Theron, you still haven't told me what midi-chlorians are. And what does that tall guy mean about a boy being conceived by them?"_**

**_"Shh!" He shushes her. "And that tall guy's name is Qui-Gon Jinn. He's talking about the boy from earlier being created through the Force instead of the regular way that parents would do. And I'll explain what Midi-chlorians are later."_**

**_The Urban Legend Hunter's face turns deep red, embarrassed for the fact that the Jedi teen mentioned about sex. In a discreet way, that is._**

_"You refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force." Windu mentions aloud. "You believe it's this boy?"_

_"I don't presume to-."_

_"But you do." Yoda interrupts Qui-Gon. "Revealed your opinion is."_

_"I request the boy to be tested, master."_

_"Oh?" The Jedi Grandmaster wonders curiously. "Trained as a Jedi you request for him, hmm?"_

_"Finding him was the Will of the Force." The tall Jedi assures him. "I've no doubt of that."_

_Mundi and Yoda looked at Windu, hoping that the Jedi Order's leader would be all right with this. In the background, Theron had a cocky smirk on his face as he is enjoying this small moment._

_Windu looks at the two masters and he sighs in defeat, shaking his head._

_"Bring him before us then." The disagreeing Windu says._

_Qui-Gon bows and walks out of the council chamber with Obi-Wan. Theron and Saten - who are spectral to the past - exit the room as well before the doors closed behind them._

**_"The prophecy's a myth." Theron deadpans in his thoughts. "I don't think Anakin could really be the Chosen One. There's no solid evidence, even if Qui-Gon says that it could be true."_**

**"I guess you were right about one thing." Saten says to him. "From what I've seen in their appearances, they really are lazy, hypocritical idiots. And that stoic guy with dark skin... *frowns* I really don't like him."**

**"Mace Windu. The Jedi Order's leader back then, and a council member." The boy describes for her. "Stoic and self-righteous. A complete asshole and a really bad influence on Jedi that are compassionate and do what's right."**

**"No kidding." The girl snorts, agreeing with him. "His expressions and character gave it away. But anyway, what prophecy was he talking about?"**

**"The prophecy of the Chosen One. It foretells of a powerful Force user that would destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. So as the prophecy goes." He explains before sighing in disbelief. "Honestly, I find it really hard to believe in Qui-Gon's presumptions."**

**"Why?"**

**"You saw the boy from earlier, right?" He asks, getting a nod from her.**

**"Do you know his name?"**

**"The boy's name is Anakin Skywalker. The greatest Jedi throughout the war before the purge."**

**"Like your last name?" She wonders with a raised eyebrow. "Are you-?"**

**"No, we're not related. I took on his surname when you and I first met, so Skywalker isn't my real last name. Actually, I don't even have a last name because I never really knew my parents."**

**"Theron..."**

**"It's okay, Saten. I'm fine."**

**The girl wasn't really sure, but she decides to leave it alone for now.**

**...**

Sunset had come, and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are walking on a balcony as Anakin is in the council chamber being tested.

"The boy will not pass the council's test, Master." Obi-Wan says, unsure of his master's decision. "He's too old."

"Anakin will become a Jedi. I promise you." Qui-Gon assures his apprentice.

"Do not defy the council, master. Not again." The Padawan complains.

"I shall do what I must, Obi-Wan." The Jedi Master says with pride as they stopped at a balcony railing.

"If you would just follow the code, you would be on the council. They will not go along with you this time." The young man argues.

"You still have much to learn, my young apprentice." Qui-Gon smiles, placing a hand on his student's shoulder before the two watch the large sun setting in the horizon as airspeeders pass by the Jedi Temple.

**...**

Back in the council chamber above, Anakin stands in the center as the Jedi Council is testing him.

"Hmm." Yoda curiously looks at the boy. "How feel you?"

"Cold, sir." Anakin answers truthfully.

"Afraid are you?"

"No, sir."

"See through you we can."

"Be mindful of your feelings." Windu reminds the boy.

"Your thoughts dwell on your mother." Mundi agrees with the stoic Jedi.

"I miss her." The boy admits.

"Hmm. Afraid to lose her I think, hmm?" The elderly Jedi deduces.

"What does that got to do anything?" Anakin questions.

**"I don't think you should've asked them that, Anakin." Theron comments.**

**"Isn't it okay to ask those kinds of questions as a Jedi?" Saten asks him.**

**"That was before the Jedi became dogmatic as a whole after the Galactic Republic was formed. Questions like those was the reason master Shan was kicked out of the Order thanks to Windu being arrogantly and self-righteously biased about the outdated Jedi code. He hates compassionate Jedi and sees that no attachments and emotions is what makes a true Jedi Knight. *scoffs* Bullshit. Bottling up your emotions and attachments leads to the dark side just as relying too much on said emotions and attachments."**

_"Everything." Yoda answers. "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate... leads to suffering."_

_Anakin was confused with what he means but understands some of it._

_Yoda sighs, shaking his head._

_"I sense much fear in you."_

**...**

_Nightfall finally came and the council's test was over. Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Anakin are standing before them._

_"The Force is strong with him." Mundi says._

_"He is to be trained, then?" Qui-Gon notes._

_"No." Windu answers. "He will not be trained."_

_"No?" Qui-Gon further questions in confusion, his hands on his hips and Anakin frowning in disbelief._

**_"No?" Theron and Saten said in unison with frowns on their faces._**

_"He is too old." The stoic Jedi Master explains._

**_"Are you saying that children as babies or toddlers are only allowed to be accepted in the Order? But that's not fair! Anakin wants to be a Jedi his whole life! That's not your decision to make!" Saten rants at the council that can't see and hear her as the girl's blue eyes turned red and then back to normal._**

**_"Of course it's not theirs not make." He agrees, scoffing at their foolish decision. "The council are too prideful and dogmatic to do that, even if Anakin really is the Chosen One or not."_**

_"He is the Chosen One. You must see it." The tall Jedi Master insists._

_"Mmm. Clouded this boy's future is." Yoda says._

_Finding it hard to believe that the Jedi Council would reject Anakin like that, Qui-Gon decides to compromise with them instead._

_"I will train him, then." He announces, surprising Obi-Wan at this unexpected revelation. Qui-Gon walks up behind Anakin and places his hands on the boy's shoulders. "I take Anakin as my Padawan learner."_

_"An apprentice you have, Qui-Gon. Impossible to take on a second." Yoda points out._

_"The code forbids it." Windu agrees with the elderly Grandmaster._

**_"Code or not, it's not impossible to take on two or three students at a time." Theron argues with the past. "My master that you kicked out of your pathetic Order made sure of that in his new Jedi code. My code."_**

_"Obi-Wan is ready." Qui-Gon says, aware of the outdated code many times over._

_"I am ready to face the trials." Obi-Wan says with confidence._

**_"I don't know. From the Force you're emitting, your connection isn't really strong." The boy doubts his confidence._**

**_"Huh?" Saten asks, confused._**

**_"It's true." He explains, nodding. "Ever since he was a child, his connection to the Force is really weak. In other words, he is literally the weakest experienced Jedi to date, even as a Jedi Master."_**

**_"Seriously?!" She exclaims in disbelief again, dumbfounded._**

_"Our own counsel we will keep on who is ready."_

_"He is headstrong, and he has much to learn of the living Force, but he is capable. There is little more he can learn from me." Qui-Gon calmly argues._

**_"So Obi-Wan's intelligence makes up for his weak strength in the Force, then." Theron concludes with a deadpanned expression._**

_Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon then look at each other as the latter is definitely sure that his Padawan is ready to face the trials and become a Jedi Knight._

_"Young Skywalker's fate will be decided later." Yoda says as there is another matter to discuss._

_"Now is not the time for this." Windu begins. "The Senate is voting for a new Supreme Chancellor, and Queen Amidala is returning home, which would put pressure on the Federation and could widen the confrontation."_

_"And draw out the queen's attacker." Mundi finishes his colleague's sentence._

_"Go with the Queen to Naboo and discover the identity of this dark warrior." The stoic Jedi assigns the two Jedi before them with their new mission. "This is the clue we need to unravel the mystery of the Sith."_

_"May the Force be with you." The elderly Grandmaster says._

_Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon bow their heads and leave the council chamber along with the spectral teens from the present day._

**_"What was that about a queen and a federation?" Saten asks him as they leave the Jedi Temple._**

**_"At this point in time, taxation of hyperspace trade routes had engulfed the Republic." Her friend explains the backstory behind it. "This outraged the greedy Trade Federation and they cut off all trade from Naboo in the Mid Rim with a blockade of ships as a boycott. From what master Shan could learn as best he could before he died, Naboo was a Republic world occupied by the Federation's battle droids. The situation got worse after negotiations from the Jedi failed and the queen was forced to leave Coruscant in order to plead her case with the Senate. However, the Supreme Chancellor at the time known as Valorum, had very little power and influence to resolve this due to corrupted politicians - running the Republic - having more power than him. Not wanting her people to suffer and die by the hands of the Federation and their droids, the queen suggests that new leadership was needed."_**

**_"Hence why the queen's anxious to return home to resolve the situation without the Republic's help." The girl concludes._**

**_"Exactly." He nods in agreement._**

**...**

_Soon after, the Jedi are back on the floating landing platform where the queen's ship. While they wait for Amidala and her Naboo escorts, Obi-Wan gets into an argument with Qui-Gon._

_"It's not disrespect, Master. It's the truth." Obi-Wan reasons with his master to no avail._

_"From your point of view." Qui-Gon bluntly says._

_"The boy is dangerous. They all sense it, why can't you?" The Padawan argues back._

_"His fate is uncertain. He's not dangerous." The tall Jedi Master calmly points out. "The council will decide Anakin's future. That should be enough for you. Now get on board."_

_The Padawan in disbelief from his master's words walks away from him and boards the ship. _

**_"So naive." Theron shakes his head at Obi-Wan's pointless argument. "Never judge a book by its cover."_**

**_"Anakin's just a kid. There's nothing dangerous about him at all from what I sensed." Saten shrugs._**

**_"The Sith shrine beneath the temple is clouding their sense of vision. The council may have the Force, but they have rocks for brains."_**

_After the short argument, Qui-Gon turns to Anakin who has overheard them arguing and was very nervous._

_"Qui-Gon, sir? I don't want to be a problem." Anakin says, nervous about his future._

_"You won't be, Ani." Qui-Gon assures him as he crouches in front of the boy and comforts him. "I'm not allowed to train you, so I want you to watch me and be mindful. Always remember, your focus determines your reality. Stay close to me, and you'll be safe."_

_"Master, sir? I heard Yoda talking about midi-chlorians. I've been wondering, what are midi-chlorians?"_

**_"That's right!" Saten perks up with excitement. "What are they, Theron?"_**

**_"Shh." He shushes her. "Qui-Gon's explaining. And honestly, he can explain the concept of it better than I can."_**

_Qui-Gon smiles at the boy's curiosity and begins explaining._

_"Midi-chlorians are a microscopic life-form that resides in all living cells."_

_"They live inside me?" Anakin further asks._

_"Inside your cells, yes." The tall Jedi Master nods in confirmation. "And we are symbionts with them."_

_"Symbionts?"_

_"Lifeforms living together for mutual advantage. Without the midi-chlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. It continually speak to us, telling us the Will of the Force. When you learn to quiet your mind, you'll hear them speaking to you."_

_"I don't understand." Anakin says, confused about that last part Qui-Gon just explained to him._

_"With time and training Ani, you will." Qui-Gon reassures him with a smile and stands back up as the Naboo queen and her escorts arrived. "You will."_

**_"Is that how we can use the Force, Theron?" Saten beams in awe. "That's amazing!"_**

**_"It truly is, Saten." He smiles in agreement._**

**_"Can anyone use the Force?"_**

**_"No. It depends on having a mid-chlorian count of 10,000 or higher. Anakin's is over 20,000, making him the most powerful Jedi of this era, rivaling some of the greatest Force users from the Old Republic era that pre-dates the Galactic Republic. His power rivals my master's bloodline in almost every way, including Revan."_**

**_"Wow." She says, _****_mind blown by all this new info about the Force and Jedi. "Wait, who's Revan?"_**

**_Theron simply chuckles at her curiosity._**

**_"Now that would be telling." He cryptically answers._**

**_"Aww." Saten cutely pouts and puffs her cheeks. "You're always cryptic and secretive, Theron."_**

**_"Don't worry. I'll tell you when the time's right." He assures him before asking her another question. "By the way, how are you able to understand English entirely?"_**

**_"You're lessons and extra classes." She shrugs. "Why?"_**

**_"Oh, nothing. I might've forgot that I taught you and Uiharu English in hospital for a day with my faster lessons."_**

**_"Forgotten?" Saten asks in perfect English with no Japanese accent._**

**_Theron is once again blown away by how attractive and mature her voice is. She sounds and looks like a high schooler._**

**_"You have... a really beautiful English voice." He compliments, flustering the girl._**

**_"Oh! Uh, thank you. That's really kind of you to say that to me." She blushes red on her cheeks._**

_"Your majesty, it is our pleasure to continue to serve and protect you." Qui-Gon says to assure the queen._

_"I welcome your help." Amidala welcomes the Jedi and his Padawan that's already on board. "Senator Palpatine fears that the Federation means to destroy me."_

_"I assure you, I will not allow that to happen." The tall Jedi Master swore as they all board the ship._

**_Theron scoffs at this, to which Saten catches this._**

**_"What is it?" The girl asks in her English voice._**

**_"That man, Palpatine, is a snake." The boy frowns in pure hatred with his English voice. "He has no regard in caring for his queen and people. Only himself. In my time, he's the Emperor of the Galactic Empire and is the mastermind behind the war, as well as the purge that nearly wiped all of the Jedi out."_**

**_"You mean that man with the kind looking face he has from earlier?! That's the Emperor?!" Saten asks before realizing with an uncomfortable expression. "Now that you mention it, there's something about that old man that makes me really uncomfortable. It's as if he's a creep."_**

**_"Very." He nods._**

**_"Okay." She shivers in fear. "Totally a huge creep."_**

_"Weesa going home!" Jar Jar exclaims in happiness as he boards the ship._

_"Come on, Artoo!" Anakin says, earning a few happy beeps from him and being the last two to board the ship._

_**"Let's go see what happens, Theron!" Saten says with an exciting grin. "And if you want to protect me from getting into trouble, you'll just have to come along."**_

_**"Right behind you, Saten." Theron grins, thinking the same thing of going on an adventure but with the girl this time.**_

_The two then board the queen's ship before the boarding ramp closes up and the ship takes off. A few moments later, the ship leaves Coruscant's orbit and jumps into hyperspace, making the voyage back to Naboo._

**To be continued...**


	37. Interlude I (Part 5)

**Interlude I (Part 5): Duel of the Fates**

**32 BBY**

**Naboo**

_The next day, the Naboo starship exits out of hyperspace near one of Naboo's moons to avoid running into the Trade Federation blockade that orbits the planet. When the planet came onto the ship's sensors, however, the blockade is no longer there except for one Federation ship that is used to control the battle droids currently on the planet's surface. After the ship landed in the swamps outside of the capital city of Theed and already low on options of freeing Naboo, Queen Amidala requests Jar Jar Binks's help in having an audience with the Bosses of the Gungan people as she wishes to form an alliance to save their homeworld and each other's people from Federation's occupation. Jar Jar did as she asked and soon returned to her and the Jedi, revealing that the whole underwater Gungan city has been deserted recently. Luckily, the clumsy Gungan knows where the rest of his people are and took his newfound friends to the ancient Naboo ruins._

_When they arrived, plot twist came in effect! One of the handmaidens in combat uniform, Padme, reveals herself to be the real Queen Amidala and the one in her royal combat attire is her double (decoy, if you will). And after some convincing and desperate words for help, the head of the Gungan Bosses - Boss Nass - accepts, forming a united alliance between the Naboo and the Gungans._

_Now having a common enemy and the advising support of the Jedi, Padme and Nass formulated a plan on how to capture the Neimoidian Nute Gunray (Viceroy of the Trade Federation) and end the upcoming battle quickly. The battle is a diversion that'll lure away most of the droid army at Theed, in which the Gungans are willing to do their part in keeping the droids busy with their own army as the Naboo lacks a military. While the droids are busy, the queen and her resistance fighters will then secure the city's hangar from any droid resistance and get whatever pilots they have left to their starfighters so they can destroy the control ship that's orbiting their planet. Once that's happening, the rest of her allies will then infiltrate her palace and capture Gunray, freeing their homeworld and ending the battle. However, the Jedi see a small flaw in Padme's plan and concluded that she'll only get one chance at this because should Gunray escape - whether their ships can get past the droid control ship's defenses and destroy the ship or not - he'll return with another droid army in greater numbers._

**...**

**Some time later...**

_After their ships left the hangar, the queen and her allies regroup and planned their move to infiltrate the palace as Gunray is in the throne room. They make for the exit, but as the door opens a hooded figure has been waiting for them, more particularly the two Jedi with Padme._

**[Duel of the Fates (Film Version) - The Phantom Menace OST plays]**

**_"Shit, it's that guy from Tatooine." Theron curses as he and his friend watch on the sidelines. "Not good."_**

**_"Who's that? He's all covered in tattoos." Saten asks, a little jumpy of the hooded man's face._**

**_"That's the Sith Lord that Qui-Gon was talking about earlier with the council." He answers. "And I think he's about to duel against Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan."_**

_"We'll handle this." Qui-Gon says to the queen._

_"We'll take the long way." Padme informs as she and her group head for the exit on the other side of the hangar._

_Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan walk up to the Sith as the latter takes of his hood, revealing his Zabrak horns on his head._

**_"And he has horns on his head." Saten sarcastically comments, now a little creep out by his full appearance._**

_The three Force users remove their robes over their tunics and the Sith warrior takes out his double-bladed lightsaber hilt, igniting two red blades on each side and gets in a fighting stance using one hand. The Jedi then ignited their own lightsabers and get in their own respective stances. The Sith Lord known as Darth Maul twirls his saberstaff and makes his first move. Obi-Wan then jumps over him with a flip, blocking the attack and lands behind him. He then swings his blade at him but the Sith blocks it without looking back at him and both the Padawan and Qui-Gon simultaneously fight their enemy across the hangar._

_Meanwhile, Padme and her group are blocked by three droidekas with their bubble shields up, pinning the group down. Luckily, the last remaining_ _Naboo fighter quickly took the droids out and flew out of the hangar as Padme's group exit the hangar and make their way to the palace._

**_"Wait, was that Anakin piloting that ship?!" Saten questions in disbelief as they saw the ship left the hangar._**

**_"Yes. Yes it was."_**

**_"Should we be worried?! He's still a kid!" _**

**_"He'll be fine. R2's with him, right? I'm sure Anakin will make it back alive in one piece."_**

_The two teens then turn their attention back to the duel as the Jedi are overwhelming the Sith warrior. Maul simultaneously blocks their blades and kicks down Qui-Gon before breaking off and performs an acrobatic spin, evading another deadly swing from Obi-Wan's blue blade._

_Backing up, Maul then Force throws a battle droid's head into a door control panel, opening the door into the hangar's power generator complex (that powers Theed with plasma and is used as an export product for the interstellar plasma energy market). With a twirl of his lightsaber as he walks up to the Sith, Obi-Wan attacks and the two parry each other before Qui-Gon rejoins the fight and helps his Padawan out as they enter the complex._

_Maul then kicks Obi-Wan in the face, knocking the young man down, and the Sith performs a flip away from his opponents. The Jedi eventually corners him on a small circular platform, but Maul back flips onto a bridge on the main floor of the complex. Obi-Wan performs a front flip while Qui-Gon just hops across, following the Sith who then blocks their simultaneous strike with one of his red blades._

**_"Something tells me that I'm enjoying this fight for some reason." Theron comments._**

**_"You got that right. The way that horned guy was performing acrobatics, that's so cool!" Saten agrees with excitement in her voice. "Maybe I should learn how to do that with the Force."_**

**_"I'm sure you will, Saten. I'll be happy to teach you how."_**

**_"Thanks."_**

**_The girl looks over the edge of the huge complex and sees that it's a long way down from where they're standing._**

**_"This power plant is nothing compared to the ones Academy City has." She whistles in awe while feeling nervous of the huge drop beneath their feet._**

**_"Well Academy City has never thought of using plasma as a renewable source of power." The boy points out._**

**_"True, true." She casually nods. "Still, I don't know why there are no railings to prevent people from falling off so easily."_**

**_"No idea." He shrugs._**

_The duel of the fates continues above the spectral teens as the Jedi and Sith fight on another catwalk. However, Obi-Wan's blade is caught in a saberlock and Maul... kicks him in the face again, knocking him off the said catwalk and hangs on the ledge of another platform that's right below the teens. Maul lowers his guard and Qui-Gon backhands him in the face, knocking him off as well, and the Sith Lord lands hard on the main catwalk. Qui-Gon jumps down and lands beside him, already going for the killing blow._

_However, Maul kicks him in the face and quickly recovers, going on the defensive with his saberstaff as the Jedi Master continues to push him deeper into the complex. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan pulls himself up onto the platform and picks up his lightsaber before seeing his master pushing the Sith warrior deeper into the complex. He then Force jumps back onto the main catwalk, reigniting his lightsaber, and uses Force sprint to catch up and rejoin the fight with Qui-Gon._

**_"There's no way Qui-Gon can take him on alone." Theron points out with concern. "Obi-Wan needs to get back in the fight and help him."_**

**_"But Theron, Qui-Gon's winning." Saten argues. "He's pushing the Sith warrior deep in this complex."_**

**_"You haven't seen this guy in action, Saten!" He talks back. "Qui-Gon almost died on Tatooine when they were trying to escape from him. You shouldn't overestimate a Jedi's power. We're not invincible, remember? I got my ass handed to me by the Second Brother."_**

**_"I know." She sadly acknowledges, recalling the event three days prior. "But it's clear that Qui-Gon's winning."_**

**_"No." He says, fearing of what's going to happen soon. "Something's not right here. It's too easy."_**

_The six laser gates deactivated when Qui-Gon and Maul continue to trade parries against each other. Just as they reach the end of the sixth gate, the Sith Lord is cut off from the Jedi Master and is stuck between gates five and six._

_Qui-Gon notices this as he is stuck between gates four and five, and turns off his lightsaber just as the laser gates turn back on. Obi-Wan runs as fast as he could be the first gate turns on last, preventing him from catching up to his master. Maul looks at the red laser gate that's blocking the Jedi Master and hits it before turning off his saberstaff._

_As for the Padawan, he realizes that the duel has stopped and turns off his own saber and patiently wait for the gates to turn off and rejoins his master's side. As Qui-Gon is on one knee meditating with the Force, Maul paces back and forth impatiently, smiling that he'll have his prey as soon as those gates turn off._

**_"He's like a predator." The girl comments nervously._**

**_"And yet, he's impatient on killing our fellow Jedi Master." The boy mutters aloud for Saten to hear._**

_Less than five minutes go by as Maul continues to pace back and forth. Obi-Wan senses the gates about to be turned off and he reignites his saber, getting in his Form IV stance. The gates turn off and Qui-Gon stops meditating and takes out his saber against the Sith with his own reignited weapon, and the duel resumes entering a circular room where a deep hole is in the center that's used as a melting pit located many levels beneath them. Soon the gate blocking the Padawan's way shuts off and he sprints toward the fight, only for the last gate that leads into the room turns back on and he watches as his master is being pushed back by the dark warrior._

**_"Qui-Gon's getting pushed back..." Saten says as her eyes widen, her heart beating in fear like Theron's after following Ob-Wan. _**

_The Jedi Master is getting tired as the Sith Lord continues to strike while the former continues to block. And suddenly, Maul uses his hilt to hit Qui-Gon in the chin, stunning him as his lightsaber drops to the floor and the green blade extinguishes. Now seeing an opening, Maul impales him through Qui-Gon's heart._

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Obi-Wan shouts as his master has been struck down in front of his own eyes._

**_"No!" Theron/Saten exclaimed with disbelief and sadness in their eyes._**

_Qui-Gon drops to his knees after Maul pulled his saberstaff's red blade out of the former's chest, and he collapses onto the floor, severely injured. Maul then quickly turns around and gets in a defensive stance as he now preys on Obi-Wan. Seeing that his master has fallen, he looks at the Sith Lord with anger on his face. After a few minutes of waiting, t__he two ignite their sabers with Obi-Wan being more jumpy to avenge his master, and the last of the six red laser gates go down. Obi-Wan rushes in head on and Maul attempts to draw him in as their blades clash with one another, parrying with each blow they come across. After a few parries from each other, the two then back away from each other and Maul makes a move on him. Maul then tries to sweep the Padawan's feet off with his saber staff but the latter jumps over it and continues to go onto the offensive, cornering the Sith warrior. _

_Seeing an opening, the Padawan slices the double bladed saber in half as the right half flies out of Maul's right hand spinning into a wall and explodes, leaving a trail of smoke. Maul uses his remaining half of his lightsaber to block an attack from him as Obi-Wan performs a double flip and lands behind him. Maul jumps back up in a crouched stance and quickly runs away from the Padawan's next swing, slicing part of the Sith's black drapes that's from his black tunic. _

_Maul then parties four strikes from Obi Wan and kicks him in the face for a third time, causing the latter to backflip and land on his feet._

**_"How many times is this guy gonna keep kicking him in the face?!" Saten rants, starting to get annoyed by that cheap move the Sith Lord pulled on the Padawan._**

_The two clash blades and Maul does an acrobatic flip, landing successfully. Now done toying with him, Maul attacks him and both parry each other's blades before going into a saber lock. Obi-Wan grits his teeth in anger, but Maul breaks their lock and Force pushes the Padawan across the floor, who then falls into the reactor shaft._

**_"No!" The teens exclaimed before running up to the edge of the pit and sees Obi-Wan still hanging on a nozzle, relieving them._**

**_"Thank god." Saten sighs in relief._**

**_"Too close." Theron agrees._**

_Luckily, Obi-Wan was able to grab onto one of the bottomless pit's nozzles, holding on for dear life. Maul walks up to the edge and notices the Padawan's lightsaber hilt. He then kicks it into the pit, and Obi-Wan sees his own saber falling into the bottomless shaft._

**_"No..." Saten says in horror, covering her mouth._**

**_"Damn it." Theron curses aloud. "He has the high ground and Obi-Wan can't hold onto that nozzle forever."_**

_Maul then slashes the edges with his lightsaber, gloating in victory while Obi-Wan barely struggles to hold on when the sparks nearly caused him to let go. Maul looks down and sees his enemy still barely holding on, and the Sith Warrior believes he has won. __Obi-Wan then notices his master's lightsaber and realizes that the Sith hadn't got rid of it. Obi-Wan looks up at Maul who is wondering what he's up to._

_Obi-Wan calms himself and summons the hilt with the Force that starts slowly moving and he jumps upward. The hilt quickly flies into his hand, igniting the green blade as he jumps over a shocked and startled Maul (who didn't stop him since everything happened so fast) and lands in front of the Sith before swiftly slashing through his torso, a mist of red came out of the Sith as his eyes widen in shock and confusion._

**_"I don't believe it!" He says with a surprised expression. "He just lowered his guard and Obi-Wan just got out of there and killed him. A weak Jedi has just killed a Sith Lord more powerful than him."_**

**_"You said it, Theron!" She agrees with the same expression as his. "Was it because of skill?"_**

**_"No." He shakes his head. "Luck."_**

_Maul loses his balance and falls on his back as he falls into the deep shaft. His body flips over and his lower half falls off of him (the drapes around his legs fall off in the process) as Maul's upper body hits the shaft's wall and continues to fall deeper and out of sight._

**_"See you next fall!" Theron tauntingly waves at the fallen Sith Lord, earning a sweat drop from Saten._**

_Believing that the Sith is dead, Obi-Wan deactivates his master's lightsaber and run towards the severely injured Qui-Gon. He then crouches on the floor beside his master and holds him in his arms._

_"__It's too late. It's-"_

_"No!" Obi-Wan says, refusing to let his master die._

_"Obi Wan... promise me... promise me you will train the boy."_

_"Yes master." He sadly nods._

_"He is the Chosen One... he... will bring balance..." The dying Jedi Master utters his final words to his Padawan. "Train him."_

_Obi Wan nods with tears in his eyes as his master looks at him one last time before taking one last breath, and closes his eyes. The Padawan then cradles his late master, grieving for the father figure he has looked up to for years. And so, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn... is gone._

**_The boy and girl looks on in shock and sadness as tears fall down their faces, ready to break down._**

**_"He's gone. Just like that and he's gone." Theron says as he experiences PTSD from his past._**

**_"Theron?" Saten asks._**

**_"Qui-Gon. He reminds me so much of my master that I looked up to. And now, it's like I'm watching it happening again."_**

**_Saten then sees him quietly break down and she looks on at the dead Jedi. For the first time in her life, whether it is a vision of the past or in real life, she has witness someone killed in front of her own eyes. She then holds Theron's hand and hugs him, comforting him as they grieve for a fallen Jedi that they just begun to admire and respect together._**

**To be continued...**


	38. Interlude I (Part 6)

**Interlude I (Part 6) - Promise, Funeral, and Celebration**

_Not long after the duel, the Battle of Naboo came to an end with the destruction of the droid control ship and the capture of Nute Gunray. When Anakin met up with Obi-Wan in the palace throne room and learned that Qui-Gon has been killed, the boy felt devastated and was even sorry for the Padawan as the two of them were close. A few hours later, the Supreme Chancellor's huge shuttle lands in front of the palace where everyone is waiting to meet the newly elected Chancellor Palpatine._

_"Now Viceroy," Queen Amidala begins. "You're gonna have to go back to the Senate and explain all of this."_

_"I think you can kiss your trade franchise good-bye." The Naboo captain Panaka spats and gestures his head to Gunray and his aide to leave Naboo._

_Gunray and his aide then leave as soon as Palpatine and his Senate guards, along with a few members of the Jedi Council (Yoda, Windu, Mundi, Billaba, Piell, for example) walked up to Obi-Wan and Anakin who bowed their heads to the Republic's new leader._

_"We are indebted to you for your bravery, Obi-Wan Kenobi. And you, young Skywalker. We will watch your career with great interest." Palpatine praises the two for their heroic acts before walking up to Amidala with a proud smile on his face._

_"Congratulations on your election, Chancellor." The queen congratulates the former Naboo Senator who is now Supreme Chancellor._

_"Your boldness has saved our people, your Majesty. It is you who should be congratulated." He notes to the 14-year-old Naboo Queen. "Together, we shall bring peace and prosperity to the Republic."_

**_Theron and Saten - who are standing beside Anakin and Obi-Wan as spectral teens - heard this from Palpatine. The teenage boy snorts at this lie as he knows that the newly elected Chancellor will then use his new position to tear the Republic apart from the inside and form the Empire years from this point in time. But how, the boy and girl don't know as they will just have to watch these past events happening for the answers they need._**

**...**

**Later inside the Palace...**

_"Confer on you the level of Jedi Knight, the council does." Yoda announces to the newly promoted Jedi Knight (who is crouched to the Grandmaster's level of height) before facing the young man. "But agree with your taking this boy as your Padawan learner... I do not."_

**_"Excuse me?" Saten scowls at the Jedi Grandmaster's decision._**

_"Qui-Gon believed in him."_

_The Jedi Grandmaster sighs._

_"The Chosen One, the boy may be. Nevertheless, grave danger I fear in his training."_

**_"Anakin hasn't even begun his training, and you say that there's danger to it?" Theron questions in disbelief. "Isn't taking risks a part of being a Jedi, no matter how small or big that danger may be? Unbelievable."_**

_"Master Yoda," Obi-Wan argues. "I gave Qui-Gon my word. I will train Anakin."_

_"Ohh!" Yoda groans in amusement._

_"Without the approval of the council, if I must." The Jedi Knight calmly threatens, unfazing Yoda._

_"Qui-Gon's defiance I sense in you. Need that you do not." The Grandmaster says before sighing and facing him again. "Agree with you the council does. Your apprentice, Skywalker will be."_

**_The teens smirk at this small victory for Obi-Wan._**

_Obi-Wan bows his head as Yoda looks away, who is still concerned about the consequences of the Council's decision of appointing the young Jedi Knight as Anakin's master._

**...**

_Nightfall soon came and a funeral is held on a cliff overlooking Theed. Obi-Wan, Anakin, Padme, Palpatine, half of the Jedi Council were present alongside Jar Jar and Nass, and R2 as they watch the corpse of Qui-Gon Jinn being cremated in the fire. The Jedi even have their hoods up as a sign of respect to the fallen Jedi Master** (Theron has his own hood up as well**_**)**_._

_"What will happen to me now?" Anakin asks the young man beside him while they watch Qui-Gon's corpse continue to burn._

_"The council have granted me permission to train you." Obi-Wan answers the concerned boy. "You will be a Jedi. I promise."_

**Theron and Saten had sad smiles on their faces when they heard that. They're happy that Anakin will finally get to begin his training, but at the same time, they felt that Qui-Gon should've been the one instead. Theron believes that Obi-Wan isn't ready to take on a student so soon since he became a Jedi Knight not too long ago. However, Obi-Wan is only one in the Order who'll really train him to become a Jedi as there's no one else who is sympathetic to Anakin and his emotional connections. And the young Knight will keep his promise and train him the best he could.**

_In the far back of the small dome the funeral is held, Windu and Yoda discuss the identity of the dark warrior that Obi-Wan had recently slain._

_"There's no doubt the mysterious warrior was a Sith." Windu confirms their two suspicions._

_"Always two there are." Yoda says. "No more, no less. A master and an apprentice."_

_"But which was destroyed? The master or the apprentice?" The stoic Jedi wonders as more questions are raised._

_**"I always have my suspicions that Palpatine is the master, but I don't have any proof other than seeing him with Vader closely in my first vision a few days back, so I'll need more evidence to confirm this." Theron speculates in his thoughts after eavesdropping on the two Jedi masters in the far back. "And that Sith warrior, it's obvious he's an apprentice."**_

_Unbeknownst to him and the Jedi, the answer is neither. But that's another story._

_And so, the next day came as a ceremony is held between the Naboo and the Gungans. Padme and her people offer a small containment orb of plasma to Boss Nass and the Gungan people, sealing the peaceful unification. Obi-Wan (no longer bearinga a Padawan braid) and Anakin - who is now in his Padawan appearance - are watching the ceremony alongside with the Jedi Council and Palpatine._

_Peace has been restored to the Republic. And Anakin's journey is only just beginning._

**End of Interlude I**


	39. Interlude II

**Interlude II: Descend into Darkness**

**19 BBY** **(Month 8)**

**Naboo**

**Royal Crypt (Somewhere in the catacombs)**

A red light illuminates the darkness as Vader walks through the catacombs of Naboo's royal crypt with his lightsaber used as a source of light. He is currently hunting the rogue Jedi who is somewhere hiding in the dark maze of the dead. His raspy breathing echoes in the said catacombs as he looks around for anything suspicious that could be in the form of a trap.

_"He is still here. I have sensed it." Vader says in his thoughts. "Unlike Kenobi, who cowers in the seats of the late Jedi Council, this Jedi is dogmatic and arrogant. He will die, along with Kenobi, Yoda, and the last of their pathetic, weak Order."_

Vader's comm within his helmet/mask goes off.

"Commander Appo," He calls. "Any sign of the fugitive?"

_"Negative, Lord Vader." The 501st Legion's Clone Commander Appo replies. "My men and I found nothing but decapitated bodies of the Coruscant Guard in these catacombs. It was done by a lightsaber, alright."_

"Widen the search." The Sith Lord orders. "The Jedi is still here."

**...**

"Yes, sir." The Clone obeys before ending the call and turning to his squadron of his white and blue fully-armored brothers. "Split up. I want that Jedi found, but stay in contact. I'm not risking us in blindly walking into a trap like our fallen brothers."

"Copy that, Commander." One of the clones acknowledged as Appo and the whole squadron split up and travel through the dark catacombs with their flashlights on their helmets.

Just as they have separated, someone is watching them from the shadows, ready to strike against them.

**...**

Vader continues to walk in the catacombs until he has reached a particular tomb where a stone coffin is placed in the center of the circular chamber. Moonlight from a hole in the catacomb ceiling shines down on the barely torch lit tomb as the Sith Lord shuts off his lightsaber and puts it away.

_"Anakin." A female voice whispers._

Cautiously, he walks up to the coffin and places a gloved hand on it. Emotions flooded his mind as they're of sadness, pain, and rage. Although his face is concealed behind his mask, Vader sheds a tear for losing the love of his life.

_"_Padme, you were everything to me more than anything." Vader says to the coffin housing the corpse of his lover. "You and I could've ended conflict together, and make a better place for the three of us."

He was then interrupted by a disturbance in the Force and turns his head around, letting go of the feel of the stone coffin. It would seem that the Jedi has gotten to the Clone troops. Then, he sees someone coming through the entrance and sees that it's none other than Appo, who is missing both legs and an arm as he desperately crawls on the floor towards Vader.

"H-Help..." Appo utters before collapsing and dies by the Sith Lord's feet.

Vader shows no remorse for the dead clones under his command as he cares very little of their lives. After all, they are engineered to be expendable.

"You cannot hide forever." Vader says. "Your time is at an end, Jedi."

"I knew you would come here." A voice answers as Vader can't see his prey. "I knew you walk in this old tomb, whenever you knew it or not. I have carefully studied you, and I have investigated everything that is connected to you. Which now brings us both here."

"It is a mistake for you to face me. I will show you mercy if you tell me where the remaining Jedi are hiding." The Sith Lord proposes.

"So you hide your true feelings behind that mask?" The voice continues, ignoring his offer. "It's no wonder someone like you has lost everything. Especially losing Padme."

Vader tenses up at the Jedi mentioning her name and unimaginable rage builds up as the stone walls start cracking from his sheer, raw power in the dark side.

"Do not speak of her name!" Vader booms in anger as he turns away. "You are nothing compared to the power of the dark side. Just like your failed husk of a religion that's a plague to the Galaxy."

"That's what all Sith say." The Jedi's voice says.

Then out of nowhere, someone jumps from behind Vader. The Sith senses it and quickly Force chokes him without even turning around to face him, and thrashes the Jedi into each stone pillar in the tomb before pinning him to a wall with the Force.

"Now..." Vader begins. "Your death will be the beginning of what little remains of your Jedi Order."

The Jedi then Force pulls a column off and attempts to crush Vader with it. The Sith Lord catches with two hands and releases the Jedi before throwing at him, who then ducks as the stone column shatters into pieces of debris.

Garbed in a torn brown hooded robe, concealing his face, the Jedi ignites his purple lightsaber and gets in his stance of Form VII. Vader then reignites his red lightsaber, and the Jedi charges at him before their blades clash against each other.

**...**

**Present Day**

Theron wakes up with a gasp after experiencing another vision of Vader alone. He heard from the Dark Lord that he wanted to rule the Galaxy with his wife and someone close to them. But who, he's not sure. And that Jedi knows about Vader's connection to Padme and the Sith didn't like it when someone brings up her name other than himself or Palpatine.

Getting out of bed, he decides to take a walk through the city streets to think on what he saw in his vision. And in the meantime, he has a ship to repair and upgrade for the journey of finding the Child's home planet before he falls into the hands of the Second Brother.

**To be continued...**


	40. Act 3: Chapter 1

**Act 3: Chapter 1 - The ****Favor**

**August 10, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

It has been a week since our heroes had a first, brief encounter with the Second Brother. Theron was briefly sent to the hospital for medical aid and has managed to recover quickly thanks to his former Jedi training. However, his friends became really concerned for the safety of their friend and the Child in his care, and leaving the only option left for the Jedi into looking for a safe home to the Force sensitive infant before their new enemy decides to put innocents in danger to get his two targets and possibly his third which is none other than Saten. It is only a matter of time.

While Theron has left the city momentarily to get a few important things, Saten is put in charge of keeping the baby safe until his return as he couldn't trust R4 into watching him due to the little one always following the young Jedi. In the meantime, Shirai, Uiharu, and Konori have already been searching for any sightings of the Inquisitor that infiltrated Academy City's borders.

* * *

**School District 7**

**177th Branch Judgement Office**

"Uiharu, shouldn't you take a break from finding our 'new friend'?" Shirai asks her partner with concern in her expression.

Uiharu continues to type on her computer with a serious look on her face, not even bothering to stop and rest. And since she's been doing this for a whole week, the flower-headed girl has bags under eyes.

"I have to find this Inquisitor, Shirai." The Level 1 says. "From what Theron has told us about, they hunt children with Force powers aside from hunting down Jedi like him. And if Saten's most likely the Second Brother's other target, then I can't let him get to her."

"I know, but look at yourself!" The Teleporter points out her friend's condition. "You've been operating without rest for the past week, and we still haven't found our mysterious intruder. Working like this won't be good for anyone."

Her partner stops typing and realizes that Shirai makes a strong point.

"Okay." Uiharu sighs. "You make a valid point, Shirai."

"It's alright, Uiharu." Shirai smiles. "I'm there for you when we're in Judgement, remember?"

"Right." Her partner returns the smile before yawning. "I should probably get some shut eye right now. You and Konori will take over for me, kay?"

"Don't you worry about that." Assures the Teleporter. "I'll make sure nothing happens while you turn in. I promise."

* * *

**School District 7**

**Joseph's**** Fa****mily Restaurant**

Still morning in Academy City, Shirai has met up with Saten and Misaka about the current situation and Uiharu's absence.

"So she overworked herself again, huh?" Saten comments while holding the Child in her hands who is cooing at her. "That's Uiharu for ya."

"Still, that doesn't mean we should just let the Second Brother give himself time to spy on us and prepare to show his face." Misaka points out. "You and the baby are still targets to him just as much as Theron is."

"I haven't forgotten, Misaka. You don't have to worry about it." The girl nonchalantly says. "I've spent the whole week building up my mental barriers from any intrusion that dark warrior might throw at me. Theron's amazing when it comes to training."

"A whole week's worth of mental training from Theron isn't going to be enough, Saten." Shirai deadpans. "Remember what Theron lectured us about facing Force users?"

* * *

**_Flashback_**

**August 7, 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**Near a certain vending machine...**

"You guys aren't capable of fighting him head on. We need to be smart." Theron says.

"But he's still out there plotting who knows what!" Saten argues. "If we wait, then he'll strike against us and take the baby!"

"And what good would it do when you DO find him? You're a girl with a few days of training and barely have combat skills. HE is a fully-trained Inquisitor and Sith apprentice who possibly has a decade or two worth of experience."

"We've faced people like this almost every day, Theron." Misaka reminds him. "It's nothing new to us."

"Fighting a Force user is far more different than fighting another Esper like yourselves except Saten." He retorts. "_Even members of the magic side. And time and time again, people have always underestimated the Force that they're ignorant or unaware of."_

"Really?" Shirai questions him with a snort, arms crossed. "Do tell."

"Force users in my view are considered to be the most dominant super-powered beings in the known Galaxy." He deadpans. "And are far more powerful than those that have received powers through science. _(thoughts) The same goes for magic and it's nothing more than an illusion."_

His friends were flabbergasted, more so for Shirai as she's a strong believer in science.

"B-But that's impossible! How can someone like you be more powerful than all of the Espers, including Accelerator, on Earth?!" Shirai exclaims in disbelief. "There has to be an explanation for this nonsense!"

"You want impossible?" He rhetorically asks. "How about the time there was an ancient Sith Lord who is literally a walking black hole that consumes entire planets with the Force while his physical body is deteriorating?"

"W-Wait, what?" Shirai eyes popped wide.

"Not insane enough for you? Well then, how about the time another Sith Lord enacted a ritual to consume all life on a single planet and gained immortality and can inhabit a host whenever he dies? Shall I go on further?"

The girls faces all had dumbfounded faces on them when they heard of these insane, feats pulled off by the ancient Sith Lords the young Jedi briefly mentioned. Just how powerful is this omnipotent sentient Force?!

* * *

**Present Day**

"I remember, alright." Saten nods while feeling her brain's overloaded with so much new info that would drive almost anyone into insanity. "I just can't wrap around the fact that there are insane feats that the Sith - and possibly the Jedi - have pulled off."

"And the power to consume entire planets that have Force energy within them? That sounds way overkill and far-fetched to believe." Shirai says in disbelief while rubbing her head. "Right, Sissy?"

However, Misaka was too busy thinking about that Inquisitor who easily kicked Theron's ass on August 3rd.

"Sissy?" The Teleporter asks her again, concerned.

"Huh?!" The Railgun snaps out of her thoughts. "Oh, it's nothing! I was just pondering about those crazy feats is all."

Luckily, her two friends bought the small lie for now as she doesn't need them to push themselves hard in helping out like Uiharu did for the past few days.

"A-Anyway, I'm gonna go for a stroll on the streets for a bit. I'm sure Theron will be back with whatever he's getting." Misaka says as she gets off her chair, getting ready to leave.

"You go on ahead, Sissy. Besides, I gotta head back to the branch office and help Konori out with some activity around this school district." Shirai nods as she too gets up and puts on her Judgement armband before looking at Saten and the Child. "What will you do, Saten?"

"Well since Uiharu's resting back at her place, I think I'm gonna continue babysitting this cute little fella." The Level 0 explains before playing and gushing with one of the baby's big pointy ears, in which he coos in response.

"You really like having him around, do you?"

"Well he is special after all. And it's the only reason why we need to protect him, Shirai. Too bad humans don't have longer lifespans like this kid does."

"Can't argue with that. I still don't know why he doesn't like me. I'm not perverted."

"Right. Sure you aren't." Misaka sarcastically rolls her eyes.

* * *

After breakfast, Misaka walks alone on the streets as traffic passes by her.

"Just how can we find the Second Brother before he hurts anyone else just so he can get to Theron, Saten, and the baby?" Misaka wonders. "The Imperials that Anti-Skill have apprehended during and after the invasion don't really have any useful information we can use to find him, even if they're able to get them to talk. I didn't think finding our enemy would be THAT hard for us."

The Railgun was so busy figuring out on what to do that she literally bumps into someone.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you." Misaka apologizes before immediately recognizing the person. "Hey, it's you!"

The person Misaka bumped into was a 16-year-old girl wearing a high school summer uniform similar. The girl has platinum blonde curled long hair (often mistaken as light purple or pink hair). This is Junko Hokaze, a Level 4 electromaster Esper and a first year high schooler.

"Misaka!" Hokaze gasps in surprise after turning around from being bumped into by accident. "It's been awhile. How are you?"

"I'm still holding up but thanks for asking that, Hokaze." Misaka smiles. "Sorry about bumping into you, by the way. Wasn't watching where I was going."

"That's okay." The platinum blonde girl smiles back. "I would've been in your position if I our roles were reversed."

"Can't argue with that." The Railgun chuckles. "I should go. Wouldn't want to keep you waiting in meeting up with... (in disgust) her."

"It was good seeing you, Misaka." Hokaze waves at Misaka as the latter walks past her on a crosswalk. When she was out of sight, the former sighs. "Why can't those two even get along for once? Speaking of the Queen, I should hurry and meet up with her at the bakery."

Although she has graduated from Tokiwadai, Hokaze is still part of her best friend's clique in the famous school for girls.

"Honestly. Shokuhou is a pain in the ass." Misaka grumbles as she continues her morning walk. _"After what she's done to Touma before we even first met, there's no way in hell I'm going to let her near him or even talk to him with that ability of hers she's still abusing on other people. (sighs) But at least Theron's not even close to be just like her. They may have telepathy but the only difference between him and her is that he has a versatile set of multiple Force abilities I've never seen from him yet. Plus, I know Shokuhou's not in shape for combat like very few Espers are. Literally."_

* * *

**At Saten's apartment...**

"You really need to be careful with overworking, Uiharu." Saten lectures on her smartphone. "How many times do I need to keep reminding you?"

_"Sorry, Saten." Uiharu apologizes through the speakers. "I just wanted to catch this intruder so badly that I want to avoid losing you and Theron."_

"I can take care of myself as much as he can take care of his own." The Level 0 says as she is sitting on her bed in her casual clothes. "What I want is for you to get some actual rest before you catch a fever."

_"I keep catching fevers a few times because you keep flipping my skirt!" The Level 1 shouts in annoyance._

"Hai, hai." Saten casually answers. "Look, just try to rest. Please?"

_"Fine." Uiharu yawns. "But you owe me cake for this."_

"See ya, Uiharu." The Force sensitive girl rolls her eyes, and chuckles before hanging up her phone and place it by her nightstand.

"So the kid's still sleeping." She warmly smiles as she sees the Child all tuckered in his makeshift bed. "All of this babysitting is a lot harder than I thought. I wonder what Theron's doing?"

* * *

**[Sugaan Essena (Black Thunder) - The Hub - Jedi: Fallen Order OST plays]**

**Japanese countryside**

**Theron's cabin**

Inside the hangar , the young Jedi is busy working on the Ebon Hawk. From tool to tool, Theron uses them to either calibrate the ship's systems, its hyperdrive, or redesign the interior of the whole freighter. Unfortunately, he's been having setbacks lately as the ship is over thirty centuries old and that everything is outdated.

Scenario after scenario, Theron had to stop small fires from spreading inside the huge hangar, hurting himself again in the process. He spent those three days into getting the ship working again and feels exhausted. Ship maintenance can be an annoying bitch sometimes.

"Done." Theron announces inside the ship, putting down a hydrospanner he used for the hyperdrive and removing his headphones with rock music from his Galaxy playing loudly. "Now let's get this garbage working again."

Now in the cockpit, Theron gets in his pilot seat and starts pressing a few buttons and switches.

"Okay! Try it now, R4!" He orders his droid.

R4 then uses his scomp link to start up the ship's systems and engines. Everything lights up and the sound of the engines is heard before whining down, losing power and setting a small spark in the cockpit that resulted in a fire... again.

"Kriff!" The Jedi curses in panic as the alarms blared loudly. "Quick, turn it off! Turn it off!"

R4 complies immediately and shuts everything off before using his built-in fire extinguisher on Theron and the fire.

"Not me, dumbass!" He coughs when the astromech finished taking out the fire.

"You're welcome." The droid grumbles.

"I wasn't even on fire!" He angrily shouts. "Didn't you even update the ship's systems before we started up everything?"

"I did, meatbag. But this ship is so old that we'll need a replacement for the negative power coupling and keep the ship from setting on fire again, or even from being flooded by hazardous gases if we don't do something about it."

"Great!" Theron exclaims frustratingly. "So it NOW breaks down after landing here. Any other parts we need to replace or repair?"

"Other than replacing the power coupling and fixing the hyperdrive and shields, nope." R4 answers. "However, we should be able to get it flying again if we have the Ebon Hawk at emergency power."

"At least the backup generator is still intact." The Jedi grumbles to himself.

"Ya know, it'll be a lot easier we had some help from our friends."

"Good idea. We can't hold off on finding the kid's homeworld forever, so let's get back to the city and explain the girls of our little problem. Just engage the stealth drive when we arrive. (mutters) If it's still operational that is."

The Ebon Hawk starts up again, and takes off from the hangar for it's flight back to Academy City.

* * *

**Back at the 177th Branch office...**

Afternoon came as Shirai patrols the streets of School District 7. Luckily, there weren't any gangs or robbers to apprehend this time of day as everything was peacefully quiet minus a few civilians hanging out or passing by.

"It sure is a lot peaceful in this part of the district." Shirai admits. "Too peaceful for my tastes."

"Maybe because you Judgement and Anti-Skill officers have been apprehending criminals before they can even be processed everyday."

The Teleporter jumps in surprise and turns around to see Accelerator walking up to her with the same bored expression on his face.

"M-Mr Dean!" She exclaims nervously. "What a surprise!"

"Shh!" Accelerator hushes. "In case you've forgotten, I want that to remain a secret from anyone that's around us."

The pigtailed girl covers her mouth at her own mistake she made.

"That's better." He says. "Now then, I want to know where the Jedi's at."

"Why?" She questions suspiciously.

"I need to talk to him about a small favor."

"He's unavailable right now. Says he's out of town. But I can let him know that you want to speak to him when he returns."

"Tch. Whatever." He says before walking past her. "I'll just find him on my own."

"Rude." She mumbles to herself.

* * *

The Ebon Hawk arrives at his home in the city outskirts and lands next to the small hangar due to its large size. Powering down the ship, Theron and R4 open the boarding ramp and exit the ship.

"Alright, I think it should be safe to call Saten now." Theron says and contacts her. "Hey, it's me. I'm back and I need you to call everyone about something important I need to show you guys. Huh? Uiharu overworked herself? (silence before he speaks) Alright. I'll see you soon."

He ends the call and looks at the city view as he waits patiently. R4 then comes up to his side.

"Should we get all of the equipment set up so we can make repairs and upgrade the Hawk?" The droid suggests.

Before Theron could say anything, he notices Accelerator in the distance in his right.

"You go on ahead. I'll meet you inside and help you out. Seems like our good old friend the General Superintendent is here for a visit."

R4 whistles and rolls away as Accelerator stands before the Jedi.

"So you brought this old junk into the city behind my back?" He raised his eyebrow in question. "Not a good way of strengthening our alliance."

"But that's not why you're here, is it?"

"No." The Vector manipulator snorts. "And I don't really care, even if I am Academy City's chairman. Just don't do anything you'll regret."

"Duly noted." Theron sarcastically acknowledges. "So what do you want?"

"A favor."

Theron perks up in confusion and suspicion.

"A favor? That's a bit out of character coming from you."

"Shut up." He grumbles. "You remember those Imperials that Anti-Skill rounded up to a secured prison for outsiders and terrorists?"

"Yeah, so?" The Jedi shrugs . "I heard a few of them are trained to resist interrogation properly unlike the ones I fought here and back in the Old Galaxy."

Accelerator looks around before continuing.

"One of them slipped up into revealing the locations of their remaining buddies at large scattered around the city."

"If this is a favor, then why not have Yomikawa's Anti-Skill unit deal with it? I'm supposed to lay low until I can get this piece of crap flying again? I've already got an Inquisitor running loose and he's still hunting me."

"Huh?"

"Jedi hunter. Black and red. Wears a t-visor helmet, and extremely deadly with a spinning double-bladed lightsaber." The Jedi describes without telling him about the Second Brother being a Sith apprentice. "He's out there trying to make his move and has no interest in helping his fellow Imperials except for hunting me and Force-sensitive children."

"If he's that big of a problem, I might consider taking him out for you."

"Yeah, no. Don't need your help. I can do it myself."

"Good. Because that's your problem, not mine."

"Whatever you say, edgelord." Theron rolls his eyes. "You can show yourself out. I'm busy."

"Tch." Accelerator says and turns on his electrode before jumping away using his ability.

Theron then heads back inside the ship to get all of the repair equipment set up outside.

* * *

Not long after, everyone except Uiharu arrived.

"Whoa!" Misaka gasps in awe. "That's his ship?!"

"It looks so cool!" Saten agrees with her.

"I'll admit, it does look impressive." Konori says with full honesty.

"It looks like a garbage ship." Shirai deadpans, pointing out the few parts and screws falling off of the hull.

"That's because she's thousands of years old, Shirai." Theron shots back at her after jumping off the top of the Ebon Hawk. "Plus, she hasn't flown for a very long time and needs new parts and a few major repairs."

"She?" Saten questions. "You mean the ship?"

"Not just any ship, Saten." He explains smirks. "This here's the Ebon Hawk. Fast, maneuverable, and as strong as a Zillo Beast."

His friends don't know what a Zillo Beast is so they decided to just forget about it for now.

"In other words, you're asking us to help you fix i-." Misaka says before quickly correcting herself. "I-I mean, her."

"What? Don't be ridiculous!" He laughs. "It's not like I'm asking for actual help or anything. More like a small favor from me."

He earns a few unconvincing expressions from the girls and the Child coos in response.

"Okay, yes." He groans. "I'm literally asking for help. So, are you guys interested or not?"

They now have satisfied looks along with the baby laughing.

"You know, it's really cute you're acting like this." Saten slyly smirks. "I think that's one way to impress me."

"Wait, what?" Theron confusingly asks.

Her friends were also confused at what she's up to. However, Konori figures it out and smirks at what she's doing.

"If you like my body and beauty so much, it'll take a lot of effort to win me over." She proposes in English with a seductive tone as she sways her hourglass figure and walks up to him.

"Hold on sec! I'm not-!" The flustered Jedi exclaims in English.

Saten then leans closer to his red face and then stifled herself.

"Pfft! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" She laughs, looking away. "The look on your face! Hook, line, and sinker!"

Misaka's jaw just dropped, completely understanding English except for Shirai and Konori.

_"She was seducing him!" Misaka reduces in disbelief. "I can't believe she's good at it, even more than Kuroko's really cringy ones."_

"I had no idea Saten can have the courage to charm a boy like Theron." Shirai admits in shock.

Although Saten was teasing the Jedi, she in actuality was very flustered at what she did.

_"You're doing it again, Ruiko!" Saten panics in her thoughts. "Stop that!"_

Theron felt embarrassed and angry. This trouble-making girl has the audacity into make fun of him like that! Yeah, well, two can play at that!

"It's unwise to provoke a Jedi like that." He says, smiling evilly. "More specifically, a former one at that."

Saten stops laughing and gasps as his face is close to hers. He then leans to her side and begins whispering in her ear.

"If you're not too careful milady, someone is sure to take advantage of you." He whispers. "For example, your boobs. The smell your hair and smooth skin give off. And even your very appealing body. A precious girl like yourself wouldn't want that. Don't you agree?"

"I should've known!" She accuses with a gasp, covering herself. "You really are a pervert, aren't you?"

Feeling like she's had enough, he pulls away from the shy and flustered girl, and bursts into laughter.

"I'm just messing with you!" He admits, still laughing. "You really believe I'm stupid enough to go THAT far to be a pervert? Then you shouldn't do things that'll get you into trouble."

The girl's jaw drop in disbelief. Then, she grits her teeth in anger as he continues to laugh. She clenches her right fist and catches the young Jedi off guard by sucker punching him in the face, sending him crashing into the ground. Her eyes flickered from blue to red and back to blue.

"Man, Uiharu wasn't kidding." He quips as he gets back up, holding his punched jaw. "You hit harder than Misaka and as fast as a speeding starfight-."

He never finished his sentence as he was then slapped on the face hard, grunting in pain.

"You ass!" Saten angrily shouts at him. "It's not funny!"

"Sorry, sorry." He apologizes. "Couldn't help myself. But you have to admit, you had that one coming."

"You take that back."

"Or what? You have nothing to threaten me with, so there's no point in continuing this." He snorts.

She cutely puffs her cheeks and looks away, blushing in embarrassment.

"You're a Jedi, and yet you like to troll everyone you meet just for the fun of it." Saten grumbles in slight annoyance.

Meanwhile, her friends have just witnessed the teen drama and chemistry that the two Force users gave off.

"My, my." Shirai comments smugly. "Those two are really made for each other."

"Ain't that the truth." Misaka agrees with a smile, already enjoying this as it's almost similar with herself and Touma when the young couple themselves banter as well.

The Child standing between Misaka and Shirai's feet laughs as he finds Theron and Satan's bantering funny.

**To be continued...**


	41. Special: Q&A with Theron and Saten

**Special: ****Q/A ****with Theron and Saten**

"You sure this is gonna work, Saten? This'll shut them up for good?"

"Trust me Theron, it'll work."

"Okay then, let's get started."

**Disclaimer: The following is non canon to the current timeline of the Force Eternal along with other versions of canon material.**

In the office of the Judgement 177th Branch, two familiar teenagers are sitting next to each other on the sofa and looking straight at the audience beyond the fourth wall.

"Hi there!" Saten waves. "I'm Ruiko Saten from the popular anime series A Certain Scientific Railgun."

"And I'm Theron Skywalker from the fanfic Star Wars: The Force Eternal." Theron greets.

"Welcome to our very first live stream Q/A takeover!" She announces.

"If you have any questions regarding to Railgun, Star Wars, or even about me or Saten, feel free to send in your questions. Who knows? A few of you might get an answer and a few might not due to (cough cough) sensitive fanboys lashing out on us." He explains.

"Alright, let's start with the first question." The girl says as she begins reading aloud on her phone.

**Dear Saten: Why is Theron's last name Skywalker? Sounds like he's another Rey.**

"You know what, let me take care of this." Theron groans in annoyance and pushes her to the side.

"Theron!" She exclaims, scooting back next to him.

"Look, I picked Skywalker because Saten and the other girls asked me for my full name." He explains . "Not to mention, I was in hiding from the Empire. And don't compare me to that Mary Sue! She's poorly written, annoying, and stole the Skywalker name without even accomplishing anything in the Sequel Trilogy. Spoilers."

"Huh?" Saten asks in confusion. "Who's Rey?"

"Nope. Never happened. Not even in the Force Eternal timeline." He declares the Sequel Trilogy era non canon.

"Bu-!"

"NEVER HAPPENED." He glares at her, slightly scaring her. "EVER. Next question. Stupid."

Shrugging, Saten moves on to the next question.

**Hey Saten: Is it true that the Force is stronger than magic and science in the A Certain series? It sounds like Theron's understimating them.**

"I am not-!" He shouts, clearly offended but Saten calms him down.

"It's okay. I'll handle this one." She says before looking at the audience. "The Force is an omnipotent, multiversal energy field that holds together not just each universe, but also space and time. At least, that's what I think it is. Kinda. And no, Theron's not underestimating both science and magic. Neither a magician nor an Esper has even accomplished in breaking reality and creating black holes."

"Like the one time when Othinus destroyed the Earth in NT?" Theron refers to her.

"Doesn't count." She shakes her head. "Plus, I heard that doll-like lady in the Endymion arc is immortal through magic."

"Didn't your Aztec friend told you that?" He asks.

"Honestly, I didn't fully realize that magic was real until near the end of Liberal Arts City." She shrugs. "Plus, Misaka and I are the only two girls that are aware of its existence, and both Shirai and Uiharu doesn't even know about that."

"Yet. Key word is yet." He jokes.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." She rolls her eyes.

**To Saten: Who would win in a fight? Accelerator or Darth Vader?**

"Oooh, I like this one." She slyly smirks. "Who do you think will win, Theron?"

"You're kidding, right?" Theron deadpans. "Vader's literally a fucking unstoppable tank. And ridiculously strong in the dark side of the Force. I'm not saying Accelerator's weak, but have you seen how OP this Sith Lord really is?"

"That never crossed my mind, no." She admits.

"He can crush buildings and people with ease. Survived being deep underwater and holding back an entire ocean with the Force. Is tough enough to survive being crushed by debris or large walkers and even the cold, dark vacuum of space. For a few hours."

Saten pales in horror.

"While Vader isn't as agile like other Jedi and Sith or any known Force user, he's fast enough to catch up to his prey in his cumbersome armor that weighs him down in less than 10 minutes. He doesn't even need the Force to jump dozens of feet in the air, all thanks to his cybernetic enhancements."

"W-wha-?"

"His greatest feat so far is his own raw power." He continues. "Accelerator has thrown buildings and stop the Earth moving to create plasma, yes. But Vader? He's fucking opened a portal to another dimension with his bare hands, in which THE FORCE itself denied him access to! Don't believe me? Read the canon Vader comics that covers his early years as a Sith Lord."

"But Accelerator can manipulate Vectors and turn his attacks against him!" She rants in did and horror. "That shouldn't be possible!"

"True, true." He nods. "If Accelerator wasn't shot in the head in the first place!"

"Oh." She realizes. "I forgot."

"Now everyone, there's a big difference between could and would. See, Accelerator could hold his own against Vader and COULD defeat him. But there's one problem for Mr. Top Dog here. His electrode that's around his neck."

"That's right!" She snaps her fingers in realization. "I also forgot about that."

"Damn straight I am!" He says laughing. "Accelerator can't even last that long against him for a full measly five minutes in a duel! Even at full power, his battery drains much, MUCH faster. Taking Vader head-on is suicide. And don't even think about trying to sneak attack him either. He can sense your presence a few light years away and he NEVER gets tired in a duel. Trust me, I've sparred with him before and got my ass kicked hard. He likes to toy with his enemies just for fun! And he holds back A LOT against opponents that are nowhere near his level."

"T-This is insane!" She shouts, frightened about how ridiculously powerful Vader is. "Can anything stop this guy?!"

"Yes." He bluntly answers. "His only major weakness is electricity as his armor is the only thing that's keeping him alive."

"Oh." She calms down in relief. "At least Misaka can defeat him."

"Normal electric attacks won't finish him off, Saten. He most likely can Force freeze her Railgun in midair without even trying."

"Okay, now I'm really scared again!" She gasps in horror.

"Force lightning is the major and ONLY major solution. And the only person who can defeat and kill Vader would be his own master Emperor Palpatine, as he's far stronger than him and is the most powerful Force user and Sith Lord in existence throughout the known Galaxy."

"If Force lightning is so powerful than Misaka's own ability, then what's the difference between the two?" She asks, not entirely convinced about the speciality of the dark side technique.

"Force lightning is so powerful that it can drain the life force of a living person, weakening them. Palpatine had decades of practicing and perfecting this technique, so he technically outclasses Vader in this scenario. Even Accelerator. Besides, the Emperor is a master manipulator and can take advantage of the first rank's personality. Besides being really strong in the dark side, his intelligence is his greatest weapon. So there you have it, pedestrians. Vader beats Accelerator in this. Case closed. I win."

"Theron..." Saten warns him to not to be so smug it it.

"What?" He defends his actions . "I know when I'm right. Most of the time, actually. A-Anyways, last question. It's my turn."

He then picks up a question on a card.

"Dear Saten:" He reads aloud. "Do you-? (Blushes) Oh no, I'M not asking this one."

"Why? It can't be that bad let me see that." She says, yanking away the card.

"No, don't read it!" He shouts in embarrassment.

**Dear Saten: Do you like Theron romantically?**

Saten's eyes widen and she blushes a deep shade of red.

"W-What?" She questions, looking away with a shy expression. "No I don't!"

"Saten, it's probably just a prank." He nervously chuckles, still blushing. "Nothing to be embarrassed about."

She couldn't contain it anymore and she screams in embarrassment.

"Whaaaaaaahhhhh!!!"

* * *

The live stream is then replaced with a new screen of Saten in an extremely sexy orange and green bikini, grinning bubbly.

**Please Stand By.**


	42. Act 3: Chapter 2

**Act 3: Chapter 2 - Imperial Scavenger Hunting**

After Theron and Saten have calmed down from their banter, the former gives the girls a tour inside the Ebon Hawk. While they're awed and impressed, the four girls had mixed opinions.

They see that the ship is cool looking and all, from the cockpit to the cargo hold to the med bay, and lastly to the starboard and port side bed rooms. However, the interior is poorly design as the Hawk is too cramped for more passengers or crew members. Not to mention the fact that there's no room for a kitchen and bathrooms for the said bed rooms.

Agreeing with them, the Jedi was hoping to ask Uiharu for help since she's a tech/weapons expert and somewhat of an engineer in vehicles besides being Academy City's 1st-ranked computer hacker. Once she's fully rested, of course. However, that wasn't just what he needed to talk to his friends about and told them of Accelerator's visit.

"So Accelerator is saying that there are remnants of Imperial forces that haven't been apprehended after the invasion?" Konori questions.

"Yep." Theron answers.

"Did he give us any leads on where they're hiding at?"

"Not really." He mutters in annoyance. "Said something about doing it on my own. More specifically, on our own."

"Well that's just great. So very helpful." Misaka sarcastically comments.

"But I do have some good news."

The girls perked up with more as he takes them to the ship's communication room close to the cockpit. He then types on a computer that accesses any known active Imperial channels on the planet.

"For the past few days since my encounter with the Second Brother, I hacked into their comms to triangulate their current location. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that some of the locations I've been to in finding them were decoys."

"And you never told Accelerator this?" Saten raises an eyebrow.

"No." He shakes his head. "The less I involve more people in our fight, the better. Not even Yomikawa."

"But Yomikawa's a nice woman." Shirai interjects. "Why do we need to keep her in the dark?"

"Because we need to figure out what the remnant invasion forces are up to first, so this is going to be a reconnaissance mission only. And until then, we don't tell Yomikawa anything about this mission."

Shirai notices that he's hiding something from them again.

"Can you guys give Theron and I a minute?" The Teleporter asks her friends. "I need to ask him something."

Her friends leave the room and the door closed behind them. Theron turns on the room's sound dampener to avoid being eavesdropped.

"What do you mean we can't tell Yomikawa?" She questions him suspiciously.

"Listen, Shirai." The Jedi begins explaining. "I'm not sure if I'm right or not, but..."

_"He's hesitant on something." She thinks in her thoughts while listening to him carefully. _"What is it?"

"There's something wrong with Yomikawa." He answers. "I don't know how to explain it but there's something off about her. When she learned about some of my past, she immediately trusts me after saving Academy City and Earth from the Empire. And the way she's behaving in these last few days, it's like she has experience with the Empire but doesn't."

"That's impossible, Theron!" Shirai says in disbelief. "She's been loyal to the good people of Academy City for years. There's no way that she's a traitor. Besides, she never had any ties to the city's dark side since she first came here as a teacher and a member of Anti-Skill, so I think you're being paranoid about this."

"I'm not saying that she is a traitor. This might sound hypocritical, and admittedly, it is. But Yomikawa's hiding something from us and-."

"Stop. Just stop." She interrupts, not wanting to hear this from him anymore. "You need to trust her just as you need to trust us. Okay?"

He sighs, even though he remains suspicious about the woman.

"Alright. Fine. But I don't like this."

"Come on." The Teleporter says as she disables the dampener and opens the door. "We should go check out the remaining decoy locations to find the real one."

"We?" He questions in confusion.

"We as in you, me, and Sissy." She clarifies. "Uiharu's out of commission, and we'll need Konori at the branch office to be our eyes and ears while Saten and the baby stay with her for the time being."

"You had this all planned out for awhile, didn't you?"

"Yep. And we're doing this together as a TEAM." She smugly answers.

"Great! Then let's go to work."

* * *

**School District ****10**

**Abandoned Warehouse**

As a reconnaissance team of three, the Jedi and his two friends at Tokiwadai arrived at an abandoned warehouse that's either an empty hideout used as a decoy to escape from the authorities or used as a real location the Empire is using for whatever reason.

"Are you sure these are the right coordinates, Theron?" Misaka asks him. "You and Accelerator theorized that this could be a trap of sorts."

"Well if it is a trap, then Shirai can teleport us out of there should the trap be an explosive. No harm done." He calmly answers, having faith in the Level 4's ability.

"That's putting it mildly." She deadpans.

He could only shrug as he then Force pushes the door down and enters inside the empty build with his friends.

"Too bad I don't have psychometry." He admits. "Not many Jedi and Sith have that skill."

"Isn't that the ability to sense an echo of the past by touching the object an individual has lastly used?" Shirai recalls. "There's a Level 3 Esper at Tokiwadai who can read those memories within animals, if I'm not mistaken."

"I'm surprised there's a Force technique similar to the rare Esper variant." The Railgun admits.

"Except that the Force is life energy that resides within us. And we Force users can perform these techniques so long as we don't exhaust or kill ourselves in the process." He compares. "Like you said about the Esper version, the Force's own version is very rare for anyone to have except that a few are born with it instead of being gifted like the Espers do."

"Looks like we'll have to do this the old fashioned way, then." The Teleporter sighs. "Let's look around for anything out of the ordinary. If we're lucky, then there might be a clue that could lead us to the remnant Imperials hiding in this city."

"Got it." He nods as the three look around head to toe.

It didn't take long, but Misaka senses EM waves emitting upstairs, and she and her friends followed the source of it. When they reached the room, they found some kind of device that's been installed on a wall and giving off a blinking, red light signal.

"Konori, are you reading me?" Shirai contacts through her earpiece-like phone.

_"Yep. I read you, guys." Konori answers. "Find anything over there?"_

"Yeah." Theron nods while checking his datapad. "Looks like the Empire has one of these relay boxes hooked up to a wall. If I'm right, they're being used to bounce any comm signal from one relay to the next, nearly impossible to trace where the source is originating from. Which explains how Anti-Skill couldn't find them in the first place."

"Maybe if I could use my ability on this relay, then I should be able to trace each one that's around the city from here."

"How will you do that?" He curiously asks.

Misaka smirks.

"A girl never reveals her secrets." She says before touching the relay and sends an electrical surge to it.

The data then transfers to Theron's datapad as it cross references the number of decoy locations, narrowing it down to one specific location.

"This can't be right." He says in disbelief. "The signal's coming from School District 23, south from my home in the city outskirts."

"You've got to be kidding me." Misaka groans. "Now we have to go back to that district again?"

"Guess we have no choice then, huh Sissy?" Shirai shakes her head.

_"If that's the case, do you guys need backup?" Saten asks over their earpieces._

"No, stay with the kid, Saten." The Jedi answers. "We must ensure that the Second Brother doesn't get his hands on him. He could sense us if you and I use the Force in the open."

_"Be careful." She says._

"We'll be in touch." He assures her before ending the call.

"She really sounds worried for you." Shirai smirks.

"Yeah, so?" He shrugs. "That's what friends do."

"Or maybe it's more than that." Misaka teases.

He blushes and looks away.

"L-Let's just stay focus, okay?" He says, avoiding the topic as he walks out of the room.

"He seems too shy to admit having feelings for her." The Railgun whispers to her BFF as they follow behind him.

"Agreed, Sissy." The Teleporter agrees with her. "Uiharu even sees that those two are comfortable with each other but haven't realize that they're in love with each other. Yet."

"Whatever you're gossiping about, I can hear you, ya know." Theron interrupts them, annoyed.

"We know." They said in unison.

* * *

**School District 23**

**Endymion**

5:30 PM came as the trio arrives at the other side of the closed Endymion City that surrounds the space elevator, covering an entire city block within the 23rd School District. The trio are now on a rooftop overlooking the elevator lobby entrance with Theron using his rifle through a scope to keep a look out for any Stormtroopers.

"Endymion." Theron says while looking at the remains of the tower. "Or what's left of it, anyway."

"You can say that again." Misaka agrees with him, using a pair of advanced binoculars from space given to her and Shirai.

"How can humanity's greatest achievement ended up being shut down?" He suspiciously wonders. "I mean, they could've used its defense system against an incoming Star Destroyer if the tower wasn't shut down and all. So, why didn't they keep it active to prepare for that invasion a few weeks back?"

"Honestly, we don't know." Shirai shrugs. "It was a few days before last year's Daihasei Festival, and it involved a special event from the famous pop singer Arisa Meigo. And this is where things get complicated because the details of this incident are very sketchy and were classified to the public."

"Arisa Meigo." He repeats the mention of the name. "Oh, yeah. I think I've listened to her songs a few times during my three years in hiding."

"Saten's a big fan of hers." Misaka recalls. "The four of us girls ended up meeting her and became part of a photoshoot."

"I was confined to a wheelchair, Sissy." The Teleporter deadpans. "I never even get to join you in those lewd outfits for cosplay and-!"

She didn't finish her sentence as Misaka bonks her hear head hard with her fist.

"Finish that sentence, and that won't be the only thing you'll be thinking about." Misaka warns her, annoyed.

"Wait, that was you, Saten, and Uiharu in that photo, Misaka?" He asks, looking away from his rifle's scope. "Wow. I didn't realize that was you guys till we first met, and boy, Saten looks hot in that outfit. Her curves are very impressive to her hourglass body, and I've always wondered who that shy-looking girl is until now. I feel almost sorry for her. Almost."

He then noticed being stared at by the two Tokiwadai girls.

"N-not that I'm being all pervy and whatnot, it's just that Saten is sexually attractive for any guy to be smitten of, ya know!" He denies with a nervous chuckle.

_"Gee, I wonder who that guy could be." Misaka and Shirai sarcastically thought smirking._

"So what exactly happened to Endymion?" He asks, changing the subject.

"Long story short, the elevator almost collapsed that would've screwed the entire northern hemisphere up big time, elevator no longer appears in Academy City's skyline, and not long after, Arisa mysteriously disappears." Misaka finishes the story.

"Without a trace?" He further questions before laughing. "People don't just vanished, Misaka. Since Arisa was last seen up in space, she might've got back down to the surface without anyone noticing or she might be dead since everyone doesn't know what exactly happened on that day last September."

"Good point." Misaka shrugs. _"No doubt that Touma had something to do with her rescue and disappearance. I'll have to ask him later about that."_

Just then in the distance where the Elevator use to stand - which is just the base part of the tower - two Imperial LAAT/le patrol gunships land in the elevator courtyard where a familiar face walks across a bridge that connects to the elevator surrounded by a large circular moat. His black cloak on him moves by the wind of the transports landing near Endymion City. He even has an escort of Death Troopers with him.

"There's our Sith apprentice/Inquisitor, guys." Misaka whispers to her friends beside her who are looking as well.

"And an escort of Death Troopers. Shit, that's just great." He mutters.

* * *

"You're late, lieutenant." Second Brother bluntly says to the man in person.

"Apologies, Second Brother." The Stormtrooper lieutenant says after hopping off the patrol gunship with what's left of his troops. "It took a bit longer to avoid being spotted by the authorities here."

"Save the excuses, lieutenant. Did you find the entrance to the temple?"

"Yes, sir." He complies, showing a holomap of some ancient caverns beneath Academy City sewers. "Unfortunately, the entrance requires more than just the Force as the door sealing the only way to the temple requires a key of some kind."

"What key?" The Sith Inquisitor asks.

"We don't know yet but I'm certain that it's the right place, sir. Shall I double my efforts to try and open it for you?"

"That won't be necessary. Keep a low profile until I contact you again. Your comrades in Anti-Skill custody weren't so lucky. Pray that you don't make the same mistake."

"I understand, Inquisitor. And what of the Jedi?"

The Inquisitor chuckles, confusing the lieutenant.

"He already knows, lieutenant." He answers, looking at the distance before turning towards his Death Troopers. "Hunt him down. I know he's here somewhere."

* * *

Theron has already hacked into their comms to listen in on what they're saying. But when he heard what the Inquisitor says a out the young Jedi, the boy begins to panic.

"We need to get out of here. Now." He warns the Tokiwadai duo, surprising them. "The Second Brother knows I'm here."

"What?!" They exclaimed in unison.

Before they could react, an Imperial patrol gunship appears from beg with a search light shining over the teens.

"Karabast." Theron curses under his breath.

"Konori, Saten?" Shirai attempts to call them but receives static in her earpiece. "Damn it, he's jammed our earpieces!"

Theron aims his rifle at the gunship and fires a shot at it, disabling it as the gunship loses power and spins out of control before crashing back to ground level.

"Shirai, get us out of here!" He shouts.

She nods and grabs onto her two friend's shoulders before instantly teleporting away with them from rooftop to roof top. Eventually, they arrived at the School District 7 border and Shirai pants from exhaustion.

"That was too close!" Shirai says, catching her breath.

"At least Theron didn't end up in the hospital this time." Misaka jokingly agrees.

"Hey! I was completely unprepared for his first appearance not too long ago." Theron retorts, offended.

_"Guys! What happened?" Saten questions over the comms. "We just lost contact with you for a bit."_

"We're alright." Misaka answers. "That Sith Inquisitor set a trap for us and we escaped without any injuries."

"Sith Inquisitor." The Jedi repeats. "That's a better name than just calling him an Inquisitor or Sith apprentice. Gets confusing since the Second Brother is both of them at the same time."

"Can you do me a favor and shut up, Theron?" Shirai glares, annoyingly. "Good grief. Your inputs are really that bad sometimes and we were lucky that we escaped before he could capture us, knowing that he could possibly use the Force to absorb Misaka's attacks with ease."

The Jedi raises his hands in defense, getting what she means. Somewhat, in a sense.

* * *

**School District 7**

**177th Branch Judgement Office**

"Well, that was exciting." Theron sarcastically comments as the three walk the steps upstairs toward the office.

"Let's not do that kind of thing again, okay?" Misaka suggests. "Next time, we need to anticipate what he's predicting on when we would find him again."

"But that's hell impossible, Misaka!" He argues. "I always cover my tracks before going somewhere else! The question is, is how. How the fuck did he know I would show up where he was located? That makes no sense at all."

Just as he says those words when opening the door, an unexpected visitor is face to face with the three while Saten and Konori looked nervous.

"What makes no sense?" The visitor Yomikawa asks with a grown in her face.

Theron, Misaka, and Shirai have shocked expressions on their faces.

"Uh, Yomikawa came for a visit and found out what the five of us were up to." Saten nervously explains with a chuckle. "Sorry."

"What were you five thinking?" The Anti-Skill officer lectures on a motherly way. "Pulling off a mission behind my back that nearly put yourselves in danger? Is this the kind of trust I've faith in? All of you, including Uiharu, are still children. Whether you have powers of not."

"I haven't been a kid since I was eleven, Yomikawa." The Jedi shot back at her. "And if that's going to stop me, then you're poorly mistaken of what and how I can do the things that are beyond any normal person, whether on Earth or elsewhere."

His friends look on in shock that he's talking back to the gym teacher/part-time Anti-Skill officer. Even rebellious Espers like Accelerator couldn't stand up against her motherly personality to children of all ages in Academy City.

"Look, I get it. You don't entirely trust me just as I'm trying to earn that trust." She calmly says. "But you're still young, Theron. And I don't want you to recklessly endanger yourself and your friends."

Theron sighs.

"Yeah. Whatever you think is best for us, mom." He sarcastically acknowledges with an insult at the end of his sentence.

After earning an earful lecture from Yomikawa, the teens explained on what they've learned at Endymion City. Theron went on that the Second Brother is looking for a temple somewhere beneath Academy City, and that it's been going on beneath everyone's noses for years without the previous Superintendent even knowing somehow. Concerned, Yomikawa suggests to keep this off record from her superiors including Accelerator as she fears that the other board members would start looking for this temple that would be the key into fully restoring the city's dark side. Not liking the idea of keeping the 1st ranked Level 5 in the dark, the teenagers agreed and promise to tell Uiharu when she has fully recovered. After that, the gym teacher in her green track suit informs them that it's already past curfew before she heads home for the day.

"I'm heading home now, guys." Theron says as Saten hands the kid they his from Yomikawa back to him. "I bet you all have a few morning classes, so I'm gonna start working on the ship again tomorrow."

"Yeah." Saten nods. "I'll ask Uiharu to come over to your place with me when class is over."

He nods back and everyone says goodnight to each other before heading back to their homes.

* * *

**Later...**

"Welcome home, meatbag." R4 beeps it starts raining outside their home.

"Thanks, bud." Theron says before changing the subject. "There's something I need you to do for me tomorrow."

"A special mission?" The astromech chirps. "About time, other than working on the Ebon Hawk. Oh, I found working replacement parts for the ship and brought them back here we can work on tomorrow."

"Good work, R4." The Jedi says.

"So what mission do you have in store for me?" The droid asks.

* * *

**School District 7**

**Yomikawa Residence**

"Welcome home!, says Misaka Misaka as she greets her with happiness."

"Glad to see you too, Last Order." Yomikawa smiles after entering her apartment. "Where's Accelerator and Worst?"

"Worst is on her way home from grocery shopping and Accelerator is in his room reading, answers Misaka Misaka with fully honesty."

"Looking forward to her cooking again, then." The woman chuckles. "Too bad Yoshikawa moved out a few weeks back so she can move in at her new place. She'd have love the food. Anyway, let me know when Worst is home and we can start making dinner. "

"Roger that, Yomikawa!, Misaka Misaka salutes." Last Order giggles.

Yomikawa opens the door to her bedroom and enters before closing and locking it. Closing the curtains, she then walks up to a tall dresser and pulls the bottom drawer handle, opening a hidden room.

The woman enters inside and the hidden door shuts behind her before the lights flicker on. There was a mirror with make up and facial disguises on a table. She walks up to another table with a bulletin board on a wall, covered with newspaper articles. The woman carefully removes the facial disguise off of her, revealing her chest-length black hair tied into a ponytail as she looks at a specific article with a special date on it:

**_May 18, 2033_**

**_EARTH LIBERATED! DARK WARRIOR VANISHES WITHOUT A TRACE!_**

"He's alive." 'Yomikawa' mutters with her REAL voice as she also looks at the article's photograph of the Second Brother.

**To be continued...**


	43. Act 3: Chapter 3

**Act 3: Chapter 3 **\- **New Lessons**

**Academy City**

**August 13, 2023**

**3 days later...**

"August 13, 2023." Theron begins as he records an audio log in his home. "It's been three days since Misaka, Shirai, and I were able to escape a second trap set by the Second Brother. Although his true identity underneath that helmet of his remains a mystery, we were able to gather some intel on what we know about him so far for almost over the past two weeks, including what the Empire's true motives for Earth really is."

Getting up from his seat, Theron starts pacing and looking around in his room as he continues his log.

"Due to possessing the knowledge of using Force Lightning in our first encounter, the Second Brother is most likely to be a secret apprentice to the Sith Lord in charge of the Empire that exists in the Milky Way. Whoever his master is, is unknown, but thankfully it's not Vader and his master Palpatine. Still, the Inquisitorious' goals remain the same: hunting down Force users that are a threat to the Sith and the Empire's power, as well as indoctrinating Force-sensitive children into their ranks as Jedi Hunters or spies for the Sith. Speaking of the Sith Inquisitor, it's clear that the reason for the Empire's campaign in conquering Earth is because the Second Brother is looking for something. He claims to know of an ancient temple somewhere deeply beneath Academy City. Whether this is true or not, my main priority is to keep training and improving on my knowledge and skills in the Force if I'm to stand what chance I have against him."

The young Jedi pauses for a moment on what he should add next in his audio log.

"Meanwhile, Saten is making good progress in mental training." He continues . "She seems to be learning fast in our meditation states, given the different flow of time it effects in the physical world. I've yet to see if she knows how to fight without having to rely on a baseball bat she mentioned in using before. She's... remarkable, I'll admit. And it makes me wonder about our growing friendship and bond in these last two weeks of knowing her. Only time will tell."

He sits back down on his bed as he continues to record on his datapad.

"In the meantime, R4 is still investigating on Yomikawa for me. In my heart, I know she's loyal to the people here. However, she seemed... off when I interacted with her. I can't even read her with the Force for some reason. Hopefully, R4 might have the answers I need. I'll elaborate my findings in my next entry."

He ends recording and puts it away in a drawer before walking out of his room.

* * *

Uiharu types on her laptop as she is working on fixing the bugs on the ship's systems.

"Hey, Uiharu. How's it coming along?" Theron says while entering the ship's communications room.

"I figured out what's wrong with the new software you and R4 wrote." She chirps with a smile. "It looks like you two overdid on the code for the Ebon Hawk's autopilot and navicomputer. That's why the cockpit keeps catching on fire whenever you start her up and had to resort to emergency power."

"Yeah." He sheepishly chuckles while scratching the back of his head. "Computers aren't entirely my thing. I just focus on ship engineering."

"Glad that you have someone that can do it." The hacker proudly smirks, referring to herself.

"Thanks. So how long?"

"It should be done right about..." She answers as it finishes updating the ship's systems. "...now."

He looks at her screen and grins.

"Uiharu, you are one hell of a computer programmer."

She blushes at the compliment.

"By the way, have you seen Saten? I thought she's with you." He asks.

"She's back outside. Says she's training." Uiharu explains. "I think you inspired her to learn about the Force."

"Yeah, no shit." He rolls his eyes. "And she's learning fast. I just hope she doesn't turn into a Mary Sue."

* * *

**In a different timeline, years from now...**

A certain scavenger girl sneezes all of a sudden, getting her friend's attention.

"You okay?" BB-8 beeps as they rest inside a wrecked walker on the desert world of Jakku.

"Yeah. I'm okay." The girl says before frowning to herself. _"For some reason, I feel like someone is insulting me."_

* * *

**Present Day**

"Huh?" Uiharu confusingly asks.

"Nothing." He waves off. "I'm gonna go look for her. Feel free to let yourself out."

"Wait! What about working on the rest of the ship?"

But just like that, the Jedi has already left the room.

"Those two are made for each other." The Level 1 sighs. "That's what worries me."

* * *

On the training grounds behind the Jedi's home, Saten stands before a large boulder that's meant to strengthen the user's Force grip. Closing her eyes, she reaches out to the boulder and slowly lifts it up with thr Force. She struggles to keep it up in the air forever and eventually drops it back down on the ground with a loud thump.

"Very impressive, Saten." Theron applauds, getting the girl's attention. "You held that rock up for 3 minutes. My current record is 15."

"And you boasting about it is suppose to make me improve?" She slightly glares at him.

"It was a compliment." He deadpans. "Don't be too serious about it. You'll get better."

"Honestly, I'm starting to get bored lifting rocks. I want to try something else for a change." She sighs.

"Like what?"

"Hmm." She wonders before noticing his lightsaber holstered on his waist. "Your lightsaber, perhaps?"

"Huh?" He says before understanding what she means. "Oh! I mean... I guess it wouldn't hurt to teach you how to properly wield one."

She grins with excitement in her eyes.

"Yes! I actually get to use one!"

"Whoa, not so fast." He warns. "Before we do the real deal, I want to know your fighting style first."

"My fighting style?"

"Yes." He nods as he walks over to a stand housing Japanese training swords.

He picks two up and tosses one at her, in which she catches it.

"Seriously?" She questions him. "I know how to fight with or without a shinai."

"If so, then why haven't you used it to kick the Empire off of Earth two weeks back?" He asks, getting tired of her complaining. "Misaka and the others were doing most of the work and you haven't exactly proved yourself to me."

This greatly offended her, and she grits her teeth with rage.

"Hey!" She shouts, pointing her shinai at him. "Fighting large groups wasn't what I was expecting, and I can't fight three or more guys on my own."

"Is that so?" He smirks before turning serious and getting in his Form IV stance. "Then shut up and kick my ass already."

Saten gulps nervously and getting in her own sloppy stance. She then charges at him and starts wildly swinging her bamboo blade at him. However, he predicted this and sidesteps her first attack. Seeing an opening so easily, Theron kicks her in the stomach that sends her sliding across the dirt.

"That may work on a Stormtrooper, but not me." He mildly taunts.

"No fair!" She exclaims as she stands back up, gripping her two hands on her shinai. "Kicking in a swordfight is cheating!"

"This isn't kendo, Saten." He rolls his eyes. "Geat. Now I know why you're always called a damsel."

"Shut up!" She angrily snarls.

Pissed, the girl charges at him again and tries to get a hit on him. But once more, the Jedi sidesteps and trips her with his foot, knocking her down. Before she can recover, Theron's bamboo blade is placed before her neck, ending the training match. To be fair, this fight only lasted approximately thirty seconds and Saten got her ass whooped hard.

Saten was a little scared but that all went away when he lowers his shinai.

"Annnd that's your head." He concludes. "Every mistake you've made is a limb loss. A lightsaber's blade isn't proficient like a normal one is."

"How come this is so easy for you?" She whines. "You even have a lightsaber for damn sake!"

"Having a lightsaber doesn't make me a Jedi." He calmly lectures. "And your stance is all wrong. You're holding your blade like a baseball bat, lacking the discipline for you to use it correctly."

Saten feels frustrated at this.

"I want to go again." She says, getting impatient.

"No." He answers. "That style of yours sucks. If you want to avoid getting yourself killed, I'm walking you through the basics."

The girl groans.

"Now then," He begins. "Let's start with your stance."

* * *

**Three** **h****ours later...**

Theron watches Saten working on her new fighting stance as she struggles to get use to it more than her sloppy, more pathetic one she's so use to before. This started to upset the young Jedi as this so difficult for him to teach her.

"She's so slow at this. Atheletic, but slow." He sighs frustratingly to himself.

"Well, you're the one that offered to train Saten." Shirai points out.

He quickly turns to his right and sees the Teleporter standing next to him.

"You need to stop doing that." He says in annoyance. "Teleporting out of nowhere, I mean. And I didn't even sense you coming!"

"Hmph." She smugly replies. "That's for all the trolling you've put me through. But anyway, I see you decided to teach her how to fight with a lightsaber. That was quick."

"I'm teaching her the basics first. Unfortunately, her original form is so sloppy that I had to walk her through in practicing her new one. And it took me three hours for her to finally make progress."

"Hey, she's not a prodigy like you." Shirai says. "And most of us are trying to get use to the whole 'Force' thing existing."

"Duley noted."

Saten lowers her shinai and starts panting, exhausted from working on her new stance.

"Okay!" She calls out the Theron. "I've got it down. Happy?"

"Better." He nods in approval.

She walks over to him after putting the bamboo sword back where it was grabbed off of. She then notices Shirai.

"Hey, Shirai." She greets. "Didn't see you there. Where's Misaka?"

"Sissy's out shopping on her own, so I came to visit Uiharu inside the ship. I heard she finally fixed your ship's new software, Theron."

"Wait, really?" Saten asks before shaking her head. "Of course she would. It's Uiharu after all. Who am I kidding?"

"Well, tell Uiharu thanks again because right now I'm heading inside to nap so you three can go." He says, walking toward the back door.

"I thought we're going to do more today." The Level 0 says.

"Yeah well, I'm tired. Laters." He casually waves before heading inside and shutting the door behind them.

"Well that's anticlimatic for him." Saten mutters.

"Come on, Saten. Uiharu's waiting for us to go." Shirai says.

"Right. Let's go."

The Level 4 then teleports her and herself away to meet up with Uiharu at the front of Theron's home.

**To be continued...**


	44. Interlude II (Part 2)

**Interlude II****: ****Attack of the Clones, Chapter 1 - Reunions**

**_There is unrest in the Galactic Senate. Several thousand star systems have declared their intentions to leave the Republic._**

**_This separatist movement, under the leadership of the mysterious Count Dooku, has made it difficult for the limited number of Jedi Knights to maintain peace and order in the galaxy._**

**_Senator Amidala, the former Queen of Naboo, has returned to the Galactic Senate to vote on the critical issue of creating an ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC to assist the overwhelmed Jedi..._**

* * *

**22 ****BBY** **(Month 5)**

**Coruscant**

**Galactic Senate**

_"I don't know how much longer I can hold off the vote, my friends." Palpatine says, sitting in his office chair behind his desk. "More and more star systems are joining the Separatists."_

_"If they do break away-." Windu says but was cut off._

_"I will NOT let this Republic that has stood for a thousand years be split in two. My negotiations... will not fail." The Chancellor swore to Windu accompanied by Yoda, Mundi, Plo Koon, Kit Fisto, Luminara Unduli and her Padawan Bariss Offee._

_"If they do, you must realize there aren't enough Jedi to protect the Republic. We're keepers of the peace, not soldiers." The stoic Jedi reminds him._

_"Master Yoda." The Chancellor says, getting the Grandmaster's attention. "Do you think it will come to war?"_

_"Hmm. The Dark Side clouds everything." Yoda answers, unsure of it himself. "Impossible to see, the future is."_

_Just then, a small hologram on the Chancellor's desk appears, interrupting the Jedi's meeting. He informs Palpatine that the committee against the vote of a military creation act has arrived._

_"Send them in." Palpatine orders as he gets up from his seat, ending the holo transmission from outside the office as the doors from behind the Jedi open up and a small group of politicians enter the room. "We will discuss this matter later."_

_One of the politicians was none other than Padme, now at the age of 24 as a senator. Yoda was relieved that she survived an assassination attempt on her own life, which happened earlier this morning. From what intel the Jedi gathered on her attempted assassination, they believed it was disgruntled spice miners on the moons of her home planet. However, Padme wasn't convinced as she suspects Count Dooku is behind it._

_"He's a political idealist, not a murderer." Mundi points out._

_"You know, milady, Count Dooku was once a Jedi." Windu assures her. "He couldn't assassinate anyone. It's not in his character."_

_In the background, Theron and Saten were listening in. The former has a frown._

**_"People change." He deadpans at how shortsighted Windu is._**

**_"Who's Count Dooku?" Saten asks._**

**_"He's one of the galaxy's wealthiest people. Very wealthy. And he was a former Jedi master whose lightsaber skills were legendary in his generation. My master idolized his swordsman skills for a time."_**

**_"Do you know what happened to him?"_**

**_"From what I know, he left the Jedi not long after Naboo. And given the time period we're seeing, it's been about a decade at most. Rumor has it that Dooku was a Sith Lord before he died at the end of the war and was also the Separatist leader, but I'm pretty sure you know why."_**

**_"Yeah, I know." She nods._**

_"But for certain, Senator, in grave danger you are." Yoda says._

_"Master Jedi, may I suggest the senator be placed under the protection of your graces?" Palpatine suggests._

**Theron****_ frowns suspiciously._**

**_"What the hell are you up to, Palpatine?" He says in a venom tone, which Saten notices but understands as she glares at the old man as well._**

_"Do you really think that's a wise decision under these stressful times?" The Alderaan Senator Bail Organa questions._

**_"Bail Organa." The boy briefly introduces. "Senator and King of Alderaan. His family's been close friends with the Jedi Order for centuries."_**

**_"Wow, a king?" The girl says in awe. "Wait, he can be a senator as well?"_**

**_"Complicated." He answers. "I don't know how Alderaan's culture works, honestly."_**

_"Chancellor, if I may comment, I do not believe-" Padme argues but was cut off._

_"...that the situation is that serious?" The Chancellor finishes her sentence. "No, but I do, Senator. I realize all too well that additional security might be disruptive for you. But... perhaps someone you're familiar with. *smiles* An old friend. Like... master Kenobi."_

**_The teens perked up at the familiar name._**

_"That's possible." The stoic Jedi says. "He's just returned from a border dispute on Ansion."_

"Do_ it for me, milady. Please." Palpatine begs. "The thought of losing you... is unbearable."_

**_"Why do I feel like he's acting that way despite the things you've told me about him, Theron?" Saten frowns at the old man distrustfully._**

**_"Because he doesn't give a damn if she lives or dies. He only cares about power and important pieces to his little game of his." He bluntly answers._**

**_"You really hate the Sith that much, huh?" She questions with a raised eyebrow._**

**_"I do. And it still doesn't change anything about this era's Jedi."_**

_"I'll have Obi-Wan report to you immediately, milady." Windu bows as he and the Jedi prepare to depart the office._

_"Thank you, master Windu." Padme nods in agreement._

* * *

**Later...**

_In the penthouse apartment of Padme Amidala, two Jedi have arrived for a welcoming reunion as they haven't seen each other for a decade._

_"It's a great pleasure to see you again, milady." Obi-Wan bows and handshakes the senator with a smile._

_The Jedi Knight has grown a mullet hairstyle over the years as well as a already sporting a beard though a bit shorter than the one he'll later have in the future._

_"It's been far too long, master Kenobi." Padme returns the handshake and smile._

**_"At least they're happy to see each other again." Saten comments with a smile before noticing a young man next to Obi-Wan. "And who's that with the Padawan attire?"_**

**_"That's probably Anakin." He deduced. "And at this time, he's currently 19 years old."_**

**_"Holy shit! He's grown into a handsome guy!" She says in awe._**

**_Theron twitches his eye, not knowing this got him a bit jealous._**

_Anakin Skywalker has now grown into a fine young man, sporting the Padawan braid and hair, along with wearing dark brown and black tunic with a Jedi robe that lacks sleeves like a traditional tone does._

_Padme notices him and is shocked at how grown up and handsome he became since the last time she saw him._

_"Ani?!" She says with a small blush on her face that no one except Obi-Wan noticed. "My goodness you've grown!"_

_"So have you." Anakin smiles. "Grown more beautiful, I mean."_

**_The teens heard what he said._**

**_"What?" They said, blinking their eyes._**

_The Padawan realized he messed up and quickly corrects himself._

_"Well, for a senator, I mean."_

_Padme chuckles at how cute he's being for trying to compliment her._

_"Ani, you'll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine." She smiles before everyone present got down to business on two opposite sofas in the penthouse's living room._

_"Our presence will be invisible, milady. I can assure you." Obi-Wan assures her._

_"I'm Captain Typho of her majesty's security service." The security officer Typho introduces himself to the Jedi. "Queen Jamilla has been informed of your assignment. I am grateful you are here, master Kenobi. The situation is more dangerous than the senator would admit."_

"I don't need more security, I need answers." The senator says. "I wanna know who's trying to kill me."

"We're here to protect you, senator, not to start an investigation." The Jedi Knight says.

"We will find out who's trying to kill you, Padme. I promise you." Anakin swears to her.

"We will not exceed our mandate, my young Padawan learner." His master reminds the young apprentice next to him.

"I meant in the interest of protecting her, master, of course."

"We will not go through this exercise again, Anakin." The Jedi Knight lectures. "And you will pay attention to my lead."

"Why?" The Padawan questions.

"What?" The Jedi says, confused.

Their banter is being watched by the people in the room, making things awkward.

**_"Uhh, awkward?" Saten nervously smiles._**

**_"Awkward." Theron sweat drops, agreeing with her._**

_"Why else do you think we were assigned to her if we're not to find the killer?" He asks. "Protection is a job for local security, not Jedi. It's overkill, master, investigation is implied in our mandate."_

**_"Finally! At least someone has an actual brain for once!" The boy rants. "Guard duty is not entirely in the Jedi's job description."_**

_"We will do exactly as the council has instructed." Obi-Wan reminds him as this isn't the time and place to argue about. "And you will learn your place, young one."_

_Anakin looks down on frustration but stayed his tongue, pointless to argue with him._

"Perhaps with merely your presence, the mystery surrounding this threat will be revealed." Padme changes the topic before things escalated. "Now if you'll excuse me, I will retire."

Everyone gets up, and Padme leaves for her room to rest in.

**_"Well, that went well." Theron sarcastically mutters. "Obi-Wan and Anakin were arguing like children. How utterly ridiculous."_**

**_"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." Saten assures her. "People are like that all the time."_**

**_"I hope so. There's something... more going on here between the two." He says, feeling like they're a bit distant with each other but close at the same time. Just what happened between them over the last decade since Qui-Gon's passing, he wonders?_**

**To be continued...**


	45. Interlude II (Part 3)

**Interlude II: Attack of the Clones, Chapter 2 -** **The Bounty Hunter**

_Nightfall_ _came_ _on Coruscant as Padme is already asleep in her room. Outside on a balcony, Anakin watches the airspeeders fly by the tall skylines of the city. He had already explained to Obi-Wan that Padme didn't like being watched through the security cameras and instead will use herself as bait to lure the killer out in the open for the Jedi to apprehend. Both of them agreed with each other that it's too risky but decided to trust her judgement on the situation._

Meanwhile_, the Jedi Knight notices how tired looking his Padawan is. Concerned, he decides to talk to him about the teen's lack of sleep._

_"You look tired." Obi-Wan says, arms crossed._

_"I don't sleep well anymore." Anakin replies._

_"Because of your mother?" He guesses._

The_ Padawan hesitates to answer but nods truthfully._

_"I don't know why I keep dreaming about her."_

_His master looks down in thought and looks up to him._

_"Dreams pass in time."_

**_Theron and Saten were sitting on one of the sofas to continue listening in._**

**_"What's Anakin talking about?" She questions curiously._**

**_"His mother." He answers. "Both he and her were sold into slavery on Tatooine ever since he was an infant._****_"_**

**_"H-He was a slave?" She gasps in shock. "I can't believe a child like him grew up in that sort of environment. At least now he and his mother are freed."_**

**_"No. The mother sadly remains as one." He sighs, earning a disappointed and sad expression from her. "Come to think of it, why hasn't the Jedi Council or Obi-Wan help Anakin free her? Those two are inseparable."_**

**_Theron had a feeling that the council wouldn't do it due to upholding the 'No Attachments' rule and Obi-Wan probably couldn't do it out of compassion since it's out of his hands to make that decision. It disgusted the boy thinking about that._**

_"I'd much dream about Padme." The Chosen One says as he and Obi-Wan walk back inside the penthouse. "Just being around her again is... intoxicating."_

_"Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin, they betray you." The Negotiator reminds him. "You've made a commitment to the Jedi Order. A commitment not easily broken. And don't forget, she's a politician and they're not to be trusted."_

_"She's not like the others in the Senate, master."_

_"__It__ is my experience that senators focus on pleasing those who fund their campaigns." He lectures sternly. "And they're no means scared of getting the niceties of democracy in order to get those funds."_

**_"Padme doesn't look corrupt to me." Saten shrugs_**.

**_"Maybe so, but Obi's got a point." Theron says. "Politicians can't be fully trusted. Sometimes not even the ones close to you."_**

_"Not anot__her lecture." Anakin rolls his eyes. "At least not on the economics and politics. And besides, you're generalizing. The Chancellor doesn't appear to be corrupt."_

**_Theron snorts in response at that statement._**

**_"Oh, you have no idea how cruel Palpatine truly is behind that compassionate facade of his." He chuckles in amusement. "You'll see._****_"_**

_"Palpatine is a politician." Obi-Wan deadpans. "I have observed that he is clever to following the passions and prejudices of the senators."_

_"I think he's a good man." The Chosen One disagrees with him. "My-."_

_Suddenly, the Jedi sense a disturbance in the Force, coming from Padme's room._

_"I sensed it, too." The Negotiator says as they sprint down the small corridor._

**_"So do I." Theron nods._**

**_"Me too." Saten agrees, but confused. "But what's going on?"_**

**_"Trouble." He answers as they follow them in a sprint._**

Anakin_ enters the room, igniting his sapphire blade and perfectly chopped two poisonous bugs in two, landing on the sleeping senator's bed. Padme gasps awake and sees that they've came in time. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the killer_.

Just_ then, Obi-Wan notices a probe droid of sorts and runs to the window as Anakin shuts off his lightsaber. The Jedi Knight jumps through the glass, shattering the window as he hold onto the small droid that's flying away from the scene. Hopefully, it'll lead him back to it's master._

Realizing_ that his master has gone ahead of him, the Chosen One gets off the bed and runs out of the room as he heads for the apartment complex's garage, passing by the senator's security officers that came in last._

_"Stay here." He says to the young senator._

**_"Let's follow him." Theron suggests._**

**_"Right behind you, Theron._**"

**_She agrees as they follow the older teen out of the room._**

* * *

_Anakin runs into the garage downstairs and randomly picks a yellow airspeeder with an open cockpit. He jumps in and flies away from the apartment, following his master ahead of him._

**_"Ugh! We're never gonna follow them now!" The girl whines._**

**_"Calm down, Saten. Let's fast forward and meet up with where they'll capture the killer." He says_**.

_Just like that, the scene changes again._

* * *

**_The teens instantly appear next to a local nightclub entrance._**

**_"A nightclub?" He tilts his head in confusion. "But where's-?"_**

_Just then, Anakin enters the scene as he is about to run inside the nightclub when a familiar voice calls out to him._

_**"**Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouts to him, finally have caught up holding Anakin's lightsaber hilt his Padawan almost lost.__Anakin turns to see his master and walks up to him._

_"She went into the club, master." Anakin informs._

_"Patience." The Negotiator interrupts him. "Use the Force. Think."_

_"I'm sorry, master." The Chosen One apologizes and is about to walk inside but his master wasn't done lecturing yet_.

_"He went in there to hide, not to run."_

_"Yes, master." He nods in understanding._

_"Next time, try not to lose it." He says, handing his pupil's hilt back._

_"Yes, master."_

_"This weapon is your life."_

_Anakin takes the hilt back and holsters it as the two Jedi enter the club._

_"I tried, master."_

**_"This weapon is your life." Saten quotes the words with a smile. "That's a good philosophical quote. But are lightsabers that important to a Jedi?"_**

**_"Partially." He answers. "Remember, being a peacekeeper is what makes them Jedi, not warriors. They defend and fight for peace and justice, not seek out war and violence."_**

**_"Right. I'm glad you taught me that when you started teaching me lightsaber combat yesterday." She smiles._**

**_"Hmm." He smiles back and noticed the design of Anakin's lightsaber. "*thoughts* Odd. That design of his looks exactly like Vader's but less black and slightly thinner. Perhaps to mock Anakin's Jedi career? That must've been his hilt before replacing it with the one I've seen in recordings during the Clone Wars._**

**_"Hey! Let's go and see what this nightclub has to offer." The girl interrupts his thoughts excitedly and grabs his hand before they walk inside._**

**_Saten_** **_was__ blushing shyly again at what she's doing._**

**_"Why am I doing this?" She thinks to herself as she gazes at him. "He's cute but-. *gasps* No! Stop looking at him weird, Ruiko! Bad girl!"_**

* * *

_"Why do I get the feeling your gonna be the death of me?" Obi-Wan rhetorically asks as they walk down the front corridor of the club._

_"Don't say that, master." Anakin calms him down. "You're the closest thing I have to a father."_

**_The teens sweat drop at this._**

**_"More_****_ like brothers to me." They muttered before realizing they said it together and look at each other with a laugh._**

_"Then why don't you listen to me?"_

_"I am trying."_

_The two Jedi find themselves seeing the club crowded with people, ranging from the rich class to lesser known criminals to a variety of dealers._

**_"Wow!" The girl gasps in awe. "This is nothing like the casinos in Liberal Arts City. And those clothes those party girls are wearing... those shoes are similar to our planet's own..."_**

**_"Focus." The boy interrupts her with a blank face. "You can admire girl fashion later."_**

**_Saten pouts playfully._**

**_"You're so mean, Theron." She says. "You never have any fun."_**

**_"If it involves being a perverted flirt like you, then no." He deadpans._**

**_"Excuse me?!" She questions, offended. "Are you suggesting I'm always a target to perverts because of how appealing I am, which you just complimented me about?!"_**

**_"Yes." He simply says._**

**_"Ugh!" She exclaims. "You are so... frustrating. I really don't understand what's going on in that damn head of yours."_**

**_"I know. And that's why it's fun to be teasing you about it." He chuckles._**

**_"Booooo." The girl says, playfully pouting again._**

_Learning that the assassin-for-hire is not human but a shapeshifter called a Clawdite who wears a bodysuit and a helmet, Obi-Wan tells Anakin to go look for her while he goes for a 'drink' after all the chasing that's made him a little exhausted. As the Padawan walks around for any signs of their target, the Jedi Knight ordered a simple non alcoholic beverage and was approached by a dealer selling death sticks. Space cigarettes if you would prefer to call them on Earth._

_"Ya wanna buy some death sticks?" He barters with the Jedi._

_Annoyed, Obi-Wan waves his hand at him with a mind trick while looking for signs of the Clawdite._

_"You don't want to sell me death sticks." _

_"I don't wanna sell you death sticks."_

_"You want to go home and rethink your life."_

_"I wanna go home and rethink my life."_

_Obi-Wan nods with a smug look on his face as the weak-minded seller leaves his stool to go home and rethink his life._

**_The_****_ teens snickered so hard at how funny that was._**

**_"I have to try doing that one day." Saten comments, bursting into laughter. "That was hilarious!"_**

**_"Hahahaha!" Theron laughs. "Oh man. I never thought Obi had a really badass sense of humor with his usage of mind tricks on stupid people."_**

**_Unfortunately, they sense another disturbance as they notice the Clawdite sneaking up towards the Jedi from behind, blaster pistol drawn._**

**_"Uh oh." She says, worried._**

**_Theron_****_, however, remains calm as he smirks, knowing that sneaking up on a skillful Force user never works._**

Sensing_ her very close to his position, Obi-Wan does a 90 degree spin and instantly slices her right arm off that holds the blaster and she collapses in shock after deactivating his blue blade._

Everyone_ in the club looked with curiosity and shock at what's going on as the Jedi Knight picks the assassin up over his shoulder when his Padawan came into scene._

_"Jedi business. Go back to your drinks." Anakin says to everyone, to which they went about their own business._

* * *

_The Jedi took the Clawdite disguised as a female human outside of the club in an alley from behind the place. Obi-Wan eases her trembling body onto the floor and begins interrogating her._

_"Do you know who it was you were trying to kill?" He questions._

_"It was a senator from Naboo." The Clawdite muttered._

_"And who hired you?"_

_Her face muscles spasmed as she tries to maintain a human visage._

_"It was just a job."_

_Kneeling beside her, Anakin takes over as this would get them nowhere if she refuses to answer._

_"Who hired you? Tell us."_

_She didn't answer and he has had it._

_"Tell us now!" He roars._

**_The_****_ two flinched in fear. For some reason, this fear feels very familiar to them but at the same time it doesn't._**

The_ Clawdite gulps._

_"It was a bounty hunter called-"_

_Before she could say anything further, a small projectile that made a ftzzz sound pierced her neck. Quickly, turning their heads fast, the Jedi traced the trajectory of the projectile to a high upper roof, where an armored man wearing a Jetpack and a t-visor helmet launched into the sky and disappeared._

The_ Jedi looked back to the Clawdite, whose flesh turns dark green back to her real form._

_"Wee shahnit... sleemo..." she gasps in Huttese before her head tilts back, dead._

Obi-Wan_ reached to the dead assassin's neck and removed the projectile for observation._

_"Toxic dart." He observed._

**_The_****_ two teens standing there were in disbelief._**

**_"So a Clawdite has a natural holographic ability to shape shift into any person?" She wonders. "That's pretty cool."_**

**_"And dangerous." He finishes. "A bounty hunter invented the shadow hologram technology inspired by the traits of a Clawdite's ability. Very useful for pulling off any job too."_**

**_"Speaking of bounty hunters, who was that with armor and a jetpack?" She asks._**

**_Theron_****_ and Saten looked at where the bounty hunter use to be._**

**_"I have no idea." He answers. "But I do recognize the armor and helmet he's wearing before he flew away. Only with a quick glimpse."_**

**_"Really? You know who he is?"_**

**_"Name? No." He shakes his head. "But what exactly he is, yes."_**

**_"Who?" She asks curiously._**

**_"Saten, I think..." He begins with a serious but excited expression. "I think that bounty hunter is a Mandalorian."_**

**To be continued...**


	46. Interlude II (Part 4)

**Interlude II****: Attack of the Clones, Chapter 3 - New Mission**

_**"A Mandalorian?" Saten tilts her head questionably. "What's a Mandalorian?"**_

_** "They're the greatest warriors in the known galaxy." Theron grins excitedly. "Mostly humans, given which time period I'm mostly talking about. They're reputation as warriors are legendary in the last 4000 years of galactic history here."**_

_** "Legendary?" She asks before noticing how excited her crush is. "How so? Are they like Jedi or Sith?"**_

_** "No. Neither of them." He shakes his head as they start walking down the streets of Galactic City on Coruscant. "In fact, they don't use the Force at all. Instead, they rely on their skills, weapons, and tactics. These non Force users are so legendary that they can rival the skills or tactics of some of the most powerful and experienced Jedi and Sith. How? They can hold their own against almost any Force user they see as a challenge, to prove they're superior warriors to the Jedi as a whole. And to be honest, they are. Literally."**_

_**The girl's eyes were so wide that they're going to pop out.**_

_** "Eh?!"**_

_** "It's true." He nods. "And sometimes, they've even allied with the two different factions for control of this galaxy."**_

_** "Huh?" She snaps out of her surprised expression. "Sometimes? You're telling me that a race of human warriors allied with both Jedi and Sith?"**_

_** "And fought against both of them." He adds. "But yes, there were pivotal moments in galactic history that they joined either side for complicated reasons. And Mandalorian isn't a race, they're a culture of honorable warriors and honor is their greatest asset but also their greatest weakness. *mutters* Something the Sith always took advantage of."**_

**_Saten perks up and remembers him mentioning a warrior culture._**

**_ "Wait. You mentioned an artistic warrior culture, but you were pretty pissed off about them becoming pacifists. Is this what you were talking about a few weeks earlier about them?"_**

**_ He nods as his answer._**

**_ "It's a long story, but I think that's enough history lessons for now." He says, much to her disappointment. "Let's get back to what we're doing. My excitement must've gotten a bit carried away."_**

**_ Saten giggles._**

**_ "If our positions were reversed, I'd have done the same." She admits._**

* * *

_The next morning, Obi-Wan and Anakin have reported their findings to the Jedi Council. They've assigned the Jedi Knight to hunt down this bounty hunter, but most importantly, find out who he's working for. However, this concerns him as Padme still needs to be protected till the bounty hunter is apprehended for questioning._

_ "Handle that, your Padawan will." Yoda says._

_ "Anakin." Windu says, getting the teen's attention. "Escort the senator back to her home planet of Naboo. She'll be safer there. And don't use registered transport. Travel as refugees."_

_ Anakin nods in agreement but there's still one problem._

_ "As the leader of the opposition, it'll be very difficult to get Senator Amidala to leave the capital."_

_ "Until caught this killer is, our judgement she must respect." The Grandmaster says._

_"Anakin. Go to the Senate, and ask Chancellor Palpatine to speak with her about this matter." The stoic Jedi suggests._

_The two Jedi then bow in respect to the council and left the room to begin their assignments. For Anakin, however, he finally could spend more time with catching up with Padme after not seeing her for ten years since liberating Naboo._

* * *

**At the Chancellor's office...**

_Anakin has spoken with Palpatine about the matter, and he has agreed to talk to her about it._

_ "I will talk with her. Senator Amidala will not refuse an executive order. I know well enough to assure you of that."_

_ "Thank you, your Excellency."_

_ "And so, they've finally given you an assignment." Palpatine says with relief and excitement. "Your patience has paid off."_

_"Your guidance more than my patience." Anakin says, praising his political mentor and friend._

_ "You don't need guidance, Anakin." He lectures kindly as they walk toward the exit of his office side by side. "In time, you will learn to trust your feelings. Then, you will be invincible. I have said it many times, you are the most gifted Jedi I have ever met."_

_ "Thank you, your Excellency."_

_"I see you are becoming the greatest of all the Jedi, Anakin. Even more powerful than master Yoda."_

_**The teens were watching from behind as the Padawan and Chancellor left the office.**_

_** "I won't deny it. Palpatine's words hold great wisdom, but I would rather die than follow the words of a snake." He says with hatred in his expression.**_

_**"Are you okay?" She asks, worried as she see his eyes glow yellow and appear to have black shadows around them. "Your eyes..."**_

_**Thankfully, he calms down and his eyes turn back to brown.**_

_**"Sorry."**_

_**"Is that what happen s when you tap into the dark side?"**_

_**"Yeah. I think I can control it for now. " He assures her. "I'm alright, Saten."**_

_**However, she feels that he's not alright and fears it might consume him sooner rather than later. So she wraps her arms around him into his right arm.**_

_**"Huh?" He asks, confused.**_

_**"I'm here for you, Theron." She says, not letting go. "Don't be afraid to talk to any of us. Or me."**_

_**" I'm not afraid, Saten. " He insists.**_

_**She nods and has let go of him.**_

**_ "I-If it's alright with you," Saten shyly begins. "Since I'm calling by your name all the time alongside with my friends, would you... call me by my first name instead?"_**

**_"Why?"_**

**_"Because... it's much easier for the both of us and I'm returning the favor for saving me."_**

**_Theron thinks for a moment and then smiles at her._**

**_"If that's what you really want, then okay." He nods. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl, Ruiko."_**

**_Her heart flutters as she gasps and blushes in joy._**

**_" T-Thank you." She stutters._**

**_He chuckles at how cute she's being._**

**_"Come on. Let's go wrap this up for today. All this meditating is making me hungry for lunch."_**

**_This causes the girl's stomach to growl loudly and she blushes again._**

**_"I think I can help with that." She giggles._**

* * *

_ Not long after, Anakin visits Padme who looks unhappy as she starts packing her luggage for the journey to return to her home planet for her own safety by order of the Supreme Chancellor._

_"I do not like this idea of hiding." She says in disbelief._

_"Don't worry. Now that the council's ordered an investigation, it won't take master Obi-Wan long to find this bounty hunter." The Chosen One assures her but this didn't calm her down._

_"I haven't worked for a year to defeat the Military Creation Act." She argues while packing. "To not be here when its fate is decided."_

**_" A little late for that, senator." He facepalms. "After a millennium of not having a military, it's too late to for any of that. Though to be fair, the Galactic Republic is better off without one at all."_**

**_ "How come?" She asks, confused. "I thought you agreed that not having a military is a stupid idea."_**

**_"Don't be naive." He bluntly says. "Having a military at the last minute for the past millennium never works out. And it was already too late for the Republic because ... you know? The Empire?"_**

**_"Ohhhhh!" She nods. "That explains why your galaxy in your universe had a civil war."_**

**_"It goes deeper than that." He deadpans._**

_"Sometimes we must let go of our pride, and do what is requested of us." Anakin says._

_Padme was a bit loss for words when she heard him say those words to her._

_"Anakin..." She says, continuing to pack. "You've grown up."_

_ "Master Obi-Wan manages not to see it." He shrugs as he walks over to the repaired window and picks up a sphere in his hand before levitating it with the Force. "Don't get me wrong! Obi-Wan is a great mentor. As wide as master Yoda, as powerful as master Windu. I am truly thankful to be his apprentice."_

_**"Doubt it." Theron bluntly comments. "Obi's still too inexperienced and young to be a master for Anakin."**_

_**"He did became a Jedi Knight not long after killing that dark assassin after all." She agrees. "I bet this Chosen One prophecy must've put so much pressure between the two, mostly for Anakin."**_

_And she's not wrong there. After joining the Order, Anakin was looked down by other Jedi, including Windu himself. One time, children his age called him, and I quote, a 'slave to his own emotions.' This angered him so much that he used the Force to levitate their own lightsabers in his hands and nearly killed them as an example for disrespecting him for something that he went through as a child. Proof right here on how the Jedi were dogmatic, arrogant, and a bunch of assholes to each other to follow the rule of no attachments with anyone._

_Obi-Wan, however, sees things differently. He may not be perfect, but he is doing his best to mentor and practically raised him in the Jedi Temple. Unfortunately, without even realizing it, he became the council's bitch. An errand boy. A lapdog, you would prefer. And because of his deep commitment to the Jedi and their outdated code that's so flawed, he and Anakin butt heads with each other about what's right and wrong. And despite having personal issues with the Padawan he's known as a brother to him, the Negoiator never truly faced them. And with Qui-Gon dead, Obi-Wan could no longer look to him for guidance._

_In other words, Obi-Wan is a coward without even realizing it, thus slowly straining the brotherly relationship and bond between the two._

**_"Yeah. And we all saw how he was treated." He further recalls. "I would've done the same thing Anakin almost did against those other kids. Especially the emotionless Jedi masters."_**

**_Ruiko wanted to argue but he has a point. From what they've seen so far, these were not true Jedi. They're nothing but cold hearted bastards that justify their own beliefs about having emotions or using the dark side is evil. This disgusted and angered her so much that she secretly wanted to make them suffer and give them a date worse than death. She realizes those thoughts and quickly buried them as she shakes in horror that the dark side is also affecting her mentality, making her sadistic like the time she was accidentally drugged with an aphrodisiac in a bikini and sarong._**

_Anakin goes on to complain that Obi-Wan wouldn't let him move on and take the trials. He believes that he's too unpredictable in his power and skills in the Force and lightsaber. His status as prodigy made the council distrustful to the Padawan as Anakin grew quickly through the Jedi ranks, fearing that he'd be too powerful to control and holding back his endless potential, whether he IS the Chosen One or not._

_But Padme assures him that mentors have a way in teaching their students and growing too fast leads to horrible consequences in their actions. It's how the world works between the teacher and student. She then tells him to not grow up too fast, which made Anakin feel a little better. This led to Anakin trying to flirt with him in a really cringy way._

**_"Is he flirting her?" Ruiko questions in shock but creeped out with how he's doing it. "He's acting like a creep."_**

**_ Theron made no comment and facepalms. Thank God he read books about the art of flirting girls, otherwise he'd have made himself look more than just being stupid._**

_"Please don't look at me like that." Padme says, embarrassed as she looks him in the eye._

_"Why not?" Anakin asks._

_"It makes me look uncomfortable." She reasons and walks away to finish packing._

**_The teens laughed at the comedic scene and how savage the Naboo senator was being towards Anakin and his terrible flirting._**

_"Sorry, milady." He apologizes with a _

* * *

**Present Day**

Theron and Ruiko got out of their meditative states as their stomaches growl loudly.

"So where do you want to eat at? Joseph's?" He asks.

"Sure." She smiles. "At least Shirai and Uiharu are babysitting that cute, little gremlin you suggested."

"Well, the kid needs to bond with Shirai more." He shrugs. "He can't keep hating her forever."

**To be continued...**


	47. Act 3: Chapter 4

**Act 3: Chapter ****4 ****\- Old wounds, Secret Agendas**

**August 14, 2023**

**Around the Afternoon...**

Yomikawa walks the streets for some time off from Anti-Skill as she makes her way to a grocery store in the area she lives within School District 7. For the past few days, she has sensed a disturbance in the Force, coming from the presence of the Second Brother. This bothers her so much because his connection to the Force is familiar to her somehow.

_"I can't believe he's alive." Yomikawa says to herself as she enters the store. "After all these years, I thought he died. Then why... why is he with the Empire? After everything he told me about them so long ago..."_

Putting those thoughts aside, she walks down a small aisle and picks out the ones she's purchasing for her and her family of adopted children she's looking after. After purchasing them, she walks out and makes her way back to the apartment. However, she stops in her tracks and senses a disturbance.

Turning her head to a a dark alley, she walks into it with the groceries in both of her hands. Frowning, she stops walking and sets down the bags, drawing her sidearm at the figure walking out of the shadows, revealing himself to her.

"Aiho... Yomikawa, is it?" Second Brother questions curiously. "I can't say that name is familiar to me."

"Well I know who you are." The gym teacher she retorts, keeping her pistol trained on him as he circles around her.

"Indeed." He says beneath his helmet. "I would have to thank our mutual friends for that."

"You killed innocent people at the amusement park the other day." She growls.

"Unfortunately." He sighs. "They didn't deserve to die. He would suspect my hesitation."

He's regretting?

"Don't play the victim with me!" She snaps. "Decieving me won't work this time."

"Do I look like I'm lying to you?" He deadpans. "Search through me. You will know it to be true."

Yomikawa looks down, frowning.

"Of course you won't." He scoffs. "You were always too stubborn. Ever since we first met."

"And you tried to kill Theron." She spats.

"Ah, yes. Theron. So he decides to call himself... Skywalker, is it? I've never thought of taking on Anakin's name in his honor when you wanted to know mine."

"Why don't you surrender, and we can go talk to him about it?" She suggests.

The Sith Inquisitor merely chuckles.

"My surrendering?" He asks. "Why, that would be pointless. Soon, he will gain access to the temple, and the Old Republic will no longer maintain peace in the Milky Way."

"He? As in your Sith Master?"

"Morgoth is no master of mine." He growls to himself. "I have my own secret agenda for the temple here. It's only a matter of time before he suspects my betrayal."

"So that you could continue the Rule of Two?" She guesses with a snort. "I expect nothing less from the likes of you."

"I'm not interested in any of that." He corrects her, shaking his head. "Morgoth's foolishness will be the end of everything I've loved because of his true intentions. What he plans to do. I seek... redemption."

As he continues to monologue, Yomikawa secretly sends an emergency dial to a listed number.

"Morgoth wants to bring the Phantom Apprentice here. Into our world. Our reality. He wants to bring him here in order to overthrow the Republic and rule this galaxy as he is not strong enough in the dark side to do so." He explains before laughing to himself. "He has no idea of what he's planning to unleash. The Phantom Apprentice would rather see the whole Milky Way burned and from the ashes, terrorized within his grasp."

The gym teacher was confused. He's not making sense.

"Who is this... Phantom Apprentice?" She questions.

But before he could answer, a large garbage dumpster can is thrown across to the Second Brother, who then ignites his lightsaber and slices it in half. Looking up, he sees that Accelerator has already launched himself towards him with his Esper ability.

The Sith Inquisitor sees an opening for a split second and Force freezes him in midair.

"Damnit!" Accelerator curses, struggling to break free as his reflection is unable to break him free.

Yomikawa retaliates by shooting at the Second Brother, who deflects the bullets as he avoids killing her by directing them in opposite directions away from her.

"Not yet." He cryptically says.

He Force throws Accelerator at Yomikawa, knocking them both down. Seeing his chance, he makes a run for it deep in the alleys.

"He's getting away!" Yomikawa says before running off after him.

"Yomikawa, wait!" The vector manipulator calls out but she just went after him. "Tch."

* * *

Yomikawa runs after the Second Brother as she is very athletic but it wasn't enough as he was too fast to keep up with him since he got a head start. Eventually, she lost him when ran around a corner.

"Damn it!" She curses punching a wall, bruising her knuckles.

_"We'll see each other again very soon, my love." The Sith Inquisitor telepathically says. "I'll be waiting."_

No point in going after him, Yomikawa rubs her bruised hand and walks back to where she left her groceries.

* * *

"Mind tell me what the hell was that about?" Accelerator asks, carrying the groceries for her.

"It's nothing." She answers. "Let's just go home."

Seeing that she's not in the mood to talk, he doesn't say a word, rolling his eyes. Still, that doesn't mean he should forget about it. After all, she has been acting weird recently.

* * *

**Later that evening...**

"Are you okay?!, asks Misaka Misaka as she has been worried for her guardian!" Last Order says as Accelerator and Yomikawa arrived with the groceries. "Misaka Misaka heard you were attack and-!"

"I'm alright, Last Order." Yomikawa smiles. "I just ran into an old acquaintance is all."

Accelerator raises an eyebrow, suspicious of her encounter.

"Oh. Then I the I shouldn't be worried about that. Says Misaka Misaka with relief in her tone of voice.

"So you got it?" Worst asks, grinning.

"Yep. It's all here." The gym teacher answers as she sets down the food on the kitchen counter.

"Thanks. Misaka is making a very special ramen dish I've come up with."

"I bet it sounds delicious." Her guardian chuckles. "I have to go change out in my room, so I'll be back to help you and Last Order out."

"Okay!" They said in unison.

As she walks to her room, Accelerator has a question.

"If you don't mind me asking, who was that man in the cloak with a helmet that's concealing his face?" He asks.

She stops in her tracks.

"He's nobody. Now drop it."

"But he was circling you."

"If I wanted you drop it, then drop it!" She almost yells, making him flinch a bit.

Yomikawa never snapped at him like that before.

"Tch. Fine." He mutters as his guardian enters her room, locking the door.

* * *

The woman sighs as she plops on her back on her bed.

_"Just what the hell are you up to?" She wonders._ She then gets up and pulls out a small chest from under her bed. Opening it, she takes out what looks exactly like Theron's lightsaber but has seen better days with the hilt's alloy being old.

Sighing, she presses a button and a sapphire blade ignites in the room, giving off a humming sound. She then turns it off and puts the saber back into the chest, and hides it in her secret room behind her dresser.

_"He's nobody. Just... ancient history." She says to herself, wanting to forget his presence._

* * *

**Beneath Academy City...**

The Second Brother travels through the sewer tunnels and brings out a hologram of PT-3571.

"Commander, we may need to speed up our timetable." He says to the hologram.

_"Lord Morgoth is becoming impatient with you, sir." The Purge trooper says. "If you don't find that key-"_

"I will." The Sith Inquisitor interrupts, assuring him. "He must not succeed. And if word gets out to your superiors and reveal what Morgoth is planning publicly, it'll lead to a full-scale war between the Empire and Old Republic."

_"He's already suspecting your possible betrayal." He reports. "If we cannot stop him from bringing over the Phantom Apprentice -"_

"We WILL stop him. The Imperials know what the Phantom Apprentice is capable of. His power is the reason why he cannot be killed. He always survives. And I pray that you and your Republic comrades will never have to meet."

_"Sir... are we taking the right path?" The Purge trooper - revealed to be an undercover agent - asks, pointing out why they're killing innocents to avoid suspicion from Morgoth as he would not hesitate to do it himself._

"The right path, no." He answers solemnly before getting serious. "The only path... yes."

**To be continued...**


	48. Act 3: Chapter 5

**Act 3: Chapter 5 - Babysitting Struggles**

**August 14 , 2023 (Earth Calendar)**

**177th Branch Judgement Office**

**_A few hours prior to Yomikawa meeting the Second Brother..._**

It is 12 o'clock in the afternoon, and the three Judgement officers are currently busy with coming up with plans to hunt down the mysterious Sith Inquisitor and capture him for any information on this 'temple' he's excavating for. Unfortunately, still no leads on any of the Imperials that Theron, Misaka, and Shirai saw with the Second Brother at Endymion the other day. But still, the officers didn't give up and continue to monitor any Imperial communications or movements seen on the city's CCTV cameras.

As they are working, we turn to our attention to the Child, whom is standing on Shirai's work desk as she monitors the enemy's commune on her own laptop separately as her partner and chief are doing the same.

The little green infant cooes as he looks around. He baby grunts and notices a radio in front of him. Curious, he presses a button, turning it on. Nothing happens and he looks at Shirai, smiling. She looks at him for a moment and goes back to looking at her laptop screen. The baby grunts and looks at the radio, pressing the button again.

"Stop touching things." Shirai lectures sternly, like any mother or aunt would do as the baby turns his head at her.

Honestly, he looks like a Jim Henson puppet you see in the _Dark Crystal._

The Child's ears droop down in sadness, whimpering. But that sadness goes away as his ear droop up again, and slyly reached for the button again while looking at her.

Touch.

The radio blares very loud music - rock music in particular - that causes the three officers to jump out of their chairs, being spooked the hell out of them as they were working. Such a troll, the little gremlin-like space infant is.

Shirai quickly shuts off the radio, ears a little sore from the loud volume, and picks him off the desk as the baby cooes happily. She carries him to the sofa and sets him down, now looking up at the Teleporter curiously.

"Argh! I can't take it anymore!" Shirai complains while holding her own head, shaking it. "This baby keeps harassing me while I'm trying to work!"

The Child aims his hand at her and Force pushes her to a shelf, crashing into it and resulting in a few books falling on top of her.

"Owww..." She says, rubbing the top of her head.

The baby laughs happily, satisfied with his little troll on her. Unfortunately, this pissed her off.

"You okay, Shirai?" Uiharu comes up to her and pulls her friend back on her feet.

"I'll live." Shirai groans, feeling humiliated and very annoyed by the baby's recent antics on her. "I just wish the baby would stop turning me into a damn laughing stock for him to be entertained to his own liking!"

"Maybe you should bond with him more." The Level 1 suggests. "That way, he won't have to keep biting you, send you flying into another shel-"

"Okay, I get it, Uiharu!" The Teleporter grabs and shakes her partner crazily. "Just cut me some slack for once, will you?!"

The Child sees Shirai shaking the flower-headed girl crazily. Believing she's hurting her, the infant reaches out with the Force to the girl with pigtails and begins telekinetically choking her to death.

The girl grips her hands around her neck, struggling to breath properly and drops to her knees. The baby frowns as he continues to make her suffer.

"S-Shirai??" Uiharu questions, very worried.

The hacker looks at the Child who has his hand reached out at the choking Level 4. She looks at her choking friend, and then does a double take before realizing that the baby is trying to kill the Teleporter in believing she was attacking her.

"No, no! Stop!" Uiharu shouts at the Child, rushing to him. "She's my friend! Shirai's my friend."

Uiharu manages to put down his hand, breaking his concentration and releasing his Force grip on the pigtail girl's throat. Shirai gasps for air, coughing violently. As for what Konori just witnessed, she was relieved that her fellow officer and friend is okay, while at the same time curious about what the infant just did a few moments ago.

"Interesting." Konori says with her hand under her chin.

"Interesting?!" Shirai exclaims in disbelief as she is. a little spooked at what the baby just did to her. "He almost killed me!"

"I agree." Uiharu nods. "But that was only because he thought you were hurting me. Speaking of interesting, what kind of Force ability he just did to Shirai, Konori?"

"I think he must have been telekinetically choking her." Konori answers. "However, did you notice the way he was frowning?"

"Huh?" The two middle schoolers blinked in confusion until Uiharu realizes it.

"Oh yeah, you're right. The baby was angry when he was choking her."

"So that would mean-."

"He used the dark side of the Force." Shirai deduced, earning shocked looks from her fellow officers.

"T-The dark side?" The Level 1 shakes a bit in fear. "Like when Saten briefly tapped into it in School District 21 a few weeks ago?"

"The very same." She slowly nods. "I guess we now know what Theron meant about how tempting the dark side is. Like an addictive drug you can never overcome."

"How can someone as innocent as this sweet, little child be capable of this kind of immense power?" Her partner wonders as they look at him, who has tilted his head in confusion, cooing.

* * *

Not long after, the three tried to contact Theron about it for any advice but it would seem he must've have his comm link shut off, much to their disbelief. Until he decides to call them, Konori assigns the Teleporter to bond with the baby more elsewhere and avoid any more confusions with it like recently. No point in arguing with her senpai, Shirai places the Child in the bag Kai has lend to his friends, should they wish to babysit him willingly, and carries him on her back as she walks out of the office building.

"It's not fair that I have to babysit him on my own." She laments aloud before grumbling. "Kai's probably wooing Saten by now. Maybe I should take the kid back to the dorm and have Sissy help me out a bit."

Unfortunately, she remembers a conversation she had with Misaka about the idea of babysitting an alien infant in their dorm.

* * *

**_Flashback_**

_"We can't risk the Head Resident from discovering him in our room. If word gets out to the other girls at Tokiwadai, especially Shokuhou, things could get really complicated for Theron and the rest of us." Misaka points out earlier this morning. "So keep the baby away from the dormitory and the Garden of Learning. He's counting on us to not screw this up."_

* * *

"Right." The Teleporter facepalms. "I almost forgot. Knowing Shokuhou, she might want to know who Theron is. And we all know how she can wipe or alter memories for the benefits of her own agenda."

The Child pokes his head out of the bag and coos at her.

"Hey!" She whispers, looking back at him. "Keep your head down. We don't need that Sith Inquisitor or anyone else seeing you, right?"

The baby's ears droop down in sadness, and Shirai softens up a bit.

"Hey. Cheer up, little guy. You may not like me, but you can't hate me forever, right?"

His ears perk up and he smiles happily.

"Now then," She changes topics. "Why don't we go get some lunch? You must be really hungry. Next stop: Joseph's."

As Shirai walks with the Child on her back in a bookbag, a certain dark sider watches them from above on a rooftop.

"The kid looks happy here." The Second Brother says to himself. "But living among Earth humans, it's still too dangerous for him. My 'master' expects me to bring him to Driox for indoctrination, but..."

He stops mid sentence and sighs. If only his real mentor was alive, here and now, then maybe Hideo would know what the man should do. After reuniting with Yomikawa, she still believes he hasn't redeemed himself after nearly destroying their original world they hailed from. All because he wanted to bring back their only child from death.

_"No." He shakes his head. "She was right. Playing God will never bring our son back. And I have to keep that promise. That means finding the key to open the temple... and destroy it. For my wife."_

Seeing that Shirai and the baby is no longer there, the Second Brother walks away when his comm link goes off.

"Yes?"

_"Sir, we just made an interesting discovery in the temple ruins'." A Death trooper informs, translating his helmet's scrambled voice for the Sith Inquisitor._

"I'm on my way." He complies.

**To be continued...**


	49. Act 3: Chapter 6

**Act 3: Chapter 6 -** **Galactic History 101: The**** Tragic Fall of Exar Kun**

Shirai arrives at Joseph's with the Child on her back as they seek out some lunch. Now inside the restaurant, they notice Theron and Saten at a corner booth nearby, already waiting for their meals.

"If I'm to get my own lightsaber, do I have to craft one by myself?" The Force sensitive girl asks.

"Yep." He answers.

"And these Kyber crystals - the real ones, not the synthetic explosive kind - are its main power source?"

"Uh huh."

"Man, I've piloted a mech but engineering a laser sword that defies the laws of physics is not really what I've been expecting." She groans before glaring at the smug-looking boy. "Hey! I'm a fast learner. I'll figure it out with the Force like you did."

"Don't be like me. Be like you." He reminds her. "The Force will guide you, not show it to you."

"So where can we find one?" She asks, excitingly.

"Yeah, about that." He sweatdrops nervously. "You won't find them here on Earth, despite this planet's strong connection to both sides of the Force."

"Awww." She slumps down in her seat, disappointedly.

"Don't be sad about it, Saten." Shirai interrupts the two. "I'm sure you'll get one of these crystals eventually."

"Shirai!" The two Force wielding teens exclaimed in surprise.

"Nice to see you two." The Teleporter smirks before slightly glaring the Jedi. "BTW, your comm link was off."

"If you were trying to contact me, then yeah." He scratches his head. "Sorry about that. Saten and I didn't want to be interrupted in the middle of our meditation sessions."

"Huh?" Shirai blinks in confusion.

"Yeah. You guys should see what we were doing for my training." The Level 0 grins proudly. "He figured out a way to accelerate my combat and mental training in the span of a few hours! In our meditation states, it felt longer than that. But out here, I've got the basics down in no time."

And just to prove it, Saten Force lifts a plate up in the air before gently setting it back on the table. The Child giggles happily.

"I think I should use the Force to flip Uiharu's skirt again for any panties she's wearing."

"Saten..." Theron warns with a blank face.

"Oh fine." She pouts cutely. "I won't misuse my powers. *grumbles* Party pooper."

"Uh, why don't the four of us start ordering lunch?" Shirai changes topics. "The baby's hungry and so am I."

"Sure thing." The Jedi nods as he smiles at the infant. "Glad you two are getting along."

The Teleporter sweats nervously.

_"You literally have no idea." She says in her head, recalls being Force choke for a misunderstanding._

* * *

They ordered their lunches and enjoyed it for a bit before talking again. This time, Shirai is curious about different lightsaber types she's read in one of the books Theron got at the Midsummer Festival's auction a few weeks back.

"Since there's more than one type of hilt variant, what exactly are they besides the single bladed one you always use?" Shirai asks, curious about the weapon. "The book didn't have that much pictures in it."

"Well, there's a double bladed lightsaber." He begins. "Resembles a bo staff, but with two opposite blades for each emitter. One of my favorites, to be frank."

"And the Second Brother uses one?" She guesses. "But it has a half ring attached to the single bladed hilt."

"That's because unlike the classic saber staff, it has a disc mode where the two blades spin so fast that it can intimidate huge groups of enemies that corner you. It can even be thrown like an actual spinning fan of death." He further explains before become annoyed. "And... it's used like helicopter blades to propel you in the air and hover around. Karabast, I hate that type of mechanic."

The two girls were baffled in disbelief.

"T-That can't be right!" The Teleporter argues. "Blades made of plasma have no mass!"

"The Force, Shirai." Saten groans, agreeing with her. "That Sith Inquisitor uses the Force to propel in the air like a helicopter and hover. From what Theron showed me, I learned not to question the laws of physics the hard way."

"The saber staff has a coupling variant where two halves fold out into the said saber, a saber staff that splits in two separate hilts for duel wielding, another with thicker but short blades as a pike, and another that is used as two and joined together as a curved saber staff hilt."

"Very impressive." Shirai whistles. "I'm guessing there's more, right?"

"Yep." Saten nods. "So sit back and listen because the different types of hilts apply to the different lightsaber forms he explained to me."

Theron and Saten explained to Shirai about the curved hilt used for one handed combat with Form II Makashi, which is an elegant fighting style. In lay man's terms, Makashi is European fencing. There's also a shoto saber for duel wielders to use for their agility and speed.

"And speaking of, the saber staff has a huge historical impact on both the Jedi and Sith." He recalls in a history lesson with Hideo. "Originally a training tool, it later became a more aggressive lightsaber than the standards or a dual-phase variant, which can extend or shorten its blade length."

"So how exactly did the saber staff impacted on the two factions in your Galaxy?" Shirai curiously asks.

"Yeah." Saten agrees. "How? Let me guess, another conflict with each other?"

"Yeah. By the fallen Jedi and infamous Sith Lord known as Exar Kun." He confirms, beginning another history lesson.

* * *

_Exar Kun. Pioneer of the saber staff and the infamous Sith Lord who had no ties with the Sith Empire that later returned to known space three centuries _after his time. _But his fall to the dark side would set the stage for two galactic wars that plays an important role to both Jedi and Sith alike two decades later._

_Once a young Jedi Knight, Exar Kun had a strong connection to the Force and was legendary for his impressive skills in lightsaber combat. Then one day, he sought to expand his knowledge as he delved deeper into his studies of the Force, ignoring his masters' warnings as he believed to be immune to the draw of the dark side. And thus, his thirst for knowledge began to resemble a thirst for power._

_Beyond the Jedi's reach, Exar Kun traveled to the world of Onderon, where he encounters the spirit of the ancient Sith Lord Freedan Nadd. The dark spirit directed the young Jedi to where he might find the secrets he sought._

Now venturing_ the ancient tombs on Korriban, Kun faced tests from the fallen Sith Lords. When he emerged, he has already passed the point of no return, drawing him further to the dark side._

_To complete his indoctrination, Exar Kun journey to Yavin 4. Like others before him and later after, he encountered the Sith subspecies known as the Massassi, created by the late Naga Sadow._ _The Massassi captured and offered Kun to a giant, ancient Sith Worm as a sacrifice._

_Facing death's door, Exar Kun fully embraces the dark side, channeling his hatred and killing the worm. He then enslave the Massassi warriors and recovered an ancient ship that was abandoned centuries ago by Naga Sadow._

_However, ruling Yavin 4 wasn't enough as he grew more hungry for power. Seeking to establish himself as the undisputed Dark Lord of the Sith, Kun attacked the Krath - a secret Sith-worshipping cult - in the Empress Teta system of the Core Worlds. Among the Krath, Kun came face to face with another fallen Jedi, matching his strength with his own: Ulic Qel Droma, who had already embraced the dark side after failing to infiltrate the Krath and destroy it from within._

_Not long after their duel, the two Dark Jedi joined forces with Kun as the Dark Lord of the Sith and Qel Droma as his apprentice. And with the combined might of the Massassi and the Krath, the two Sith Lords therefore formed the infamous Brotherhood of the Sith._

_The Brotherhood then waged a ruthless war against the Old Republic and the Jedi, lasting for 6 months. Winning several battles, the Brotherhood and their rulers attacked the ancient Jedi library on Ossus, where Qel Droma struck down his own brother._

_With Ossus conquered, the Brotherhood were victorious. But their triumph was short lived, just like the Sith Empire many centuries prior. Remorseful for killing his brother, Qel Droma abandoned the dark side and fled into exile, betraying Exar Kun. The war has finally been turned around._

_The Republic and Jedi drove Kun back to Yavin 4, where the Dark Lord enacted a ritual, sacrificing his armies to keep his spirit alive. Though unable to defeat him entirely, the Jedi were able to imprison Exar Kun's spirit in the Massassi temples on the same jungle moon which ended the Great Sith War._

_To this day, his spirit continues to remain and haunt the halls of the ancient temples, never to threaten the Old Galaxy ever again._

* * *

**Present Day...**

Concluding his story, Theron sees that his friends were in awe and disbelief, but were also scared. They were told of a tale of how a tragic Jedi, whose invention was legendary, fell to the dark side over seeking desirable knowledge of the Force for power.

"In the end, knowledge is power." Shirai comments.

"But power can corrupt." Saten finishes her friend's sentence, having experience in that scenario since the Level Upper incident. "Even those who would use it for peace, they end up using it for evil."

"That's not entirely true." Theron points out. "There are even Sith who use the light side for the good of their Empire like the Romans back then."

"Huh?" The girls had surprised and confused faces.

"So a Jedi that uses the dark side is a Dark Jedi, while a Sith that uses the light side is a Light Sith?" His crush questions in disbelief. "I thought Sith only the dark side."

"Yeah." The Teleporter nods. "A Light Sith? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard. Then again, I really shouldn't say that."

"Light Sith do use the dark side, yes." The Jedi explains. "Primarily, that is. However, the major difference is that they're rarely any of them because they use the light side for peaceful diplomatic solutions without the need for deception and manipulation like other Sith do. *laughs* And what's ironic, is that they use some of the Jedi philosophy to achieve their goals peacefully against their most hated enemy."

This baffled his friends. The Light Sith used and turned the Jedi's own philosophy they hated so much against them to suit their own agenda for the Old Galaxy. That... sounds very impressive. At least there are ways to defeat an enemy without always resorting to violence and deception.

The two girls blinked their eyes and laughed as well.

"So you're saying that the Light Sith are better peacekeepers than the Jedi?" Saten laughs her head off at how really ironic and funny that is. "That's hilarious!"

"No wonder the Jedi were so hypocritical in their own flawed, outdated code." Shirai agrees, laughing as well. "They hate violence, yet they always resort it only against the Sith."

The Child doesn't understand what the teens are discussing about but he joins in on the laughter.

* * *

**Beneath Academy City...**

The Second Brother, alongside his Death trooper squadron, arrive at an archeological site where Scout and Stormtroopers are watching the perimeter while a few Imperial workers are excavating for any artifacts of interest.

"You found the entrance?" He asks one of the workers.

"Yes, sir." The worker nods as he shows him the entrance. "We have indeed found it. Unfortunately, the door remains sealed and our tools can't even break through it. Even our controlled explosives didn't work."

"The door's made of an alloy far stronger than Duresteel and Beskar." The Sith Inquisitor explains. "You're tools wouldn't indeed break it through, not even a lightsaber or the Force would do. Only a simple key can allow someone access to the secrets inside."

"Yes, the Force." The worker nods, dismissing the idea of something that exists. "We also searched for that key you requested us to find, but there's no sign of it."

The Second Brother looks at him in disbelief.

"What?" He asks.

"Forgive me, sir. But we-"

The dark side user Force chokes him, making the working drop to his knees as he struggles to breathe.

"What do you mean it's not here?" He demands, snarling.

"I don't know, I swear!" He answers truthfully. "The key was supposed to be in place with the door's lock mechanism in the center like you described, but we had no idea that someone took it. I-It must've been stolen long before we got here."

The Second Brother releases his hold on him and the worker coughs for air. Walking up towards the door, the dark side user places a hand on it, sensing an echo in the Force as his surroundings are black and white with everyone frozen in place like time has stopped. In the years of growing strong in both the dark and light sides, he modified his naturally born Force psychometry to instead create a simulated version of that memory within the physical world after touching said object. He calls it Force Animi.

Looking around within the simulated memory, he sees that a woman with long black hair removes the key from the door's center and walks away as she heads deep into the cavern tunnels. Seeing enough, the Second Brother allows his surroundings return to normal.

_"So you decided to hide the only key on the planet." He deduces with a ghost of a smile. "Smart thinking. But I'm afraid that won't be enough to stop Morgoth's plan_ _to bring in the Phantom Apprentice here. It's only a matter of time. And you're only delaying the inevitable."_

**To be continued...**


	50. Author's Notice

**Hey, readers! Some of you are leaving a few biased reviews for my story. So I'm only going to say this once: Stop.**

**Stop**** telling me what to do about how I write it and shut the fuck up. I'm staying true to the lore of Toaru and Star Wars but some of you are too stupid and biased about how, for example, Accelerator would fair in a fight against Vader or Palpatine.**

* * *

**1) This is the Chosen One we're talking about here. Vader can't die that easily due to the plot of his story and how stubborn he really is considering that he's a tanker.**

**2) Again, there's a big difference between could or would because it's not about how to defeat Vader or Palpatine. It's about how long you can survive against the strongest Sith Lords in Star Wars history and canon. If Accelerator wasn't shot in the head, he would've outclass Vader and Palpatine in raw power.**

**However, that's not the case because Accelerator always rely on his electrode to use his ability which uses up alot of his battery and render him crippled if he wastes time against someone stronger than him. The key is prep time. Something Accelerator he doesn't always rely on in Toaru canon.**

**3) Palpatine is master manipulator and could and would take advantage against Post-Three Stories arc Accelerator due to his head being shot, crippling him permanently without the need of an electrode. Again, if Accelerator had his full potential back, he'd have trumped and outclass Palpatine.**

**4) Y****ou clearly underestimate how powerful Jedi and Sith are as well as how powerful the Force truly is. Don't believe me, watch Death Battle episode Obi-Wan vs Kakashi. That's what happens when you pit anime character against a classic sci-fi genre character that's been around for 4 decades.**

**5)**** Imagine Breaker can negate anything but matter. Vader and Palpatine are smart enough to rely on throwing objects at Touma with the Force and Touma's reaction speed is down to the microsecond. For Force users, they're fast enough to react in just under a nanosecond. Obi-Wan, for example, has done this in an official novel.**

**6****) The difference between Canon Vader and Legends Vader, is that Legends Vader was weak as hell. He got his ass kicked by Starkiller, who is more powerful than him in Force combat when he pulled down or threw huge ships in and from a planet's atmosphere. Canon Vader, meanwhile, is literally no joke. Everyone but Ahsoka couldn't last long in a duel with him and survive. Hell, not even Ahsoka herself, who held her own against Vader, couldn't defeat him because he's on a completely different level.**

**Oh, and that final duel with Obi-Wan on ****the Death Star? Vader didn't technically killed him because Obi vanished instantly and became one with the Force before Vader could cut him down. That was the second time Vader lost against his former Jedi master.**

**And don't forget, the reason he lost to his own son Luke is because he was holding back against him and didn't want to kill him. The time on Cloud City got him to get somewhat serious with Luke and had to end the duel quickly.**

* * *

**Now that's done, I'll remind you again: Shut up and enjoy the story or don't. Otherwise, keep your biased and annoying fanboy comments to yourself.****Thank you and be vigilant out there during the global pandemic.**

**Tython**** out.**


	51. Act 3: Chapter 7

**Act 3: Chapter 7** **\- ****Dinner with Yomikawa** **(Part 1)**

Back at the restaurant, Theron's comm link goes off, interrupting their lunch.

"That must be R4." He sighs in annoyance. "Sorry guys, but I gotta take this."

"Sure thing." Shirai says. "Saten and I will keep an eye on the kid."

"Speaking of R4, where is he?" Saten asks. "I haven't seen him around you that often."

"He usually goes off on his own misadventures for a bit." The boy half lies. "That droid really is an enigma, even to me."

"Oh. Well whatever he wants with you, I'm sure he's calling you for a reason."

"Yeah." He nods before mumbling to which they didn't catch him say it. "Indeed."

He then exits the restaurant and answers his comms.

"You've been going dark on me, R4." He jokingly says. "Don't tell me you want to take my Starfighter for a joyride."

"Ha, ha." R4 sarcastically beeps. "Tempting but that's not it. It's about Yomikawa you asked me to look into."

Theron perks up and gets serious.

"What did you find?" He asks.

"Well, I broke into Academy City's Bank last night-"

"You what?!" The Jedi angrily exclaims. "You broke into the city's database on every citizen who lives here?! Do you have any idea how much trouble you could've brought on us?!"

"Calm down, meatbag. I didn't tamper with anyone's files. Besides, I only broke in the database to look up on any known information on this woman. You DID ask me to look into her, so asking her would arouse suspicion."

"Touche." The Jedi grumbles.

"Anyway, according to her file, Yomikawa is one of the city's elite members of Anti-Skill. Though any records of her life before moving to Academy City isn't mentioned at all."

"Why?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that. Her file only summarizes about her part-time jobs as a high school gym teacher and as a law enforcer."

"Gym teacher?"

"Yeah. At a place called a Certain High School."

"You're joking."

"About the name? No, I'm not. It's literally called that."

"Then it sounds like a stupid name to me. So have you been following her like I asked you?"

"About that."

"What is it, R4?" He sighs, rolling his eyes.

"I've been following her around and every time I try to find out from a distance, I somehow end up losing track of her."

This confused Theron.

"What do you mean you keep losing her?"

"I don't know! She just... vanish without a trace. Like she doesn't want to be spied on. Hell, she left behind a surprise gift that nearly blew me up."

"What?! But she's Anti-Skill. There's no way she wouldn't bother to learn about who's stalking her." He argues, baffled by how out of character the woman is being. "Okay, so spying on her is a no go. Guess we're going with Plan B then."

"You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting."

"Yeah." He dreadfully slouches.

* * *

**Later that night...**

A knock was heard on their apartment door.

"I'll get it!, says Misaka Misaka as Misaka Misaka knows who that is!" Last Order exclaims excitedly, much to Yomikawa and Worst's confusion as they're in the middle of cooking dinner.

The little girl runs past the living room with Accelerator laying down on the couch, noticing his adopted sister and ward heading for the door but pays no mind about it. The Sister then opens the door and smiles happily at who it is.

"Index! Big sister!, smiles Misaka Misaka with happiness in her heart."

"Hey there, Last Order." Misaka smiles at her as they're let inside the apartment. "We're not late, are we?"

"Not at all! And you even brought the Savior. I knew you had it in you to be his girlfriend., says Misaka Misaka as she notices him behind you two."

Indeed. Mikoto brought her boyfriend Touma over for dinner with her two sisters, Yomikawa, and surprisingly Accelerator. Mostly because he tolerates the presence of his two friends in his family's home, despite how annoying they are to him. Last Order even asked Misaka to invite Index as well since they enjoyed spending time in talking with each other.

"Y-Yeah." The Railgun blushes, eyeing on her lover. "I do care alot about him."

"Well you always were a tsundere whenever you talk to Touma, Short Hair." Index casually points out, slightly angering her.

"Very funny, Silver Sister." She sarcastically rolls her eyes. "And we're still keep calling each other our nicknames, even though you and I no longer hate each other."

"What, you want me to stop calling you 'Short Hair' from time to time?" The nun smirks.

"No, no." The Railgun shakes her head. "I think it kinda has grown on me. I mean, Touma was the first to call me by a nickname."

"That's because I thought it was cute calling you that." Touma interrupts with a deadpan expression. "I still can't believe my own luck has turned around for the first time when we started dating, Mikoto."

"Well, there's Index, her friends, and Kuroko you have to worry about since you are a magnet to girls." Mikoto teases him. "Except that Kuroko is only interested in me, of course."

"Laugh it up, Zapper." He grumbles. "It's weird how you and Index get along so well. I don't know how you won't make amends with Shokuhou. She does have feelings for me after all."

"Listen, Shokuhou is a manipulator. She loves you because she's selfish. The only thing she cares about for you is herself." She argues, restraining her own hatred of Mental Out. "Me? I'm not like her. I would never do the things she has done in the past year prior to WWIII, despite her own brand of justice. I'll never forgive her for that."

Touma's expression softens for his girlfriend, knowing that for once she's right. Sometime after becoming a couple with Misaka and remembering Shokuhou with the memories of her he temporary lost, he got involved in a love triangle with the two girls.

Long story short, Shokuhou pulled the last straw on trying to steal the misfortunate boy away from Misaka by manipulating her into believing Touma had cheated on her without the two realizing who was pulling the strings from behind the scenes. The Queen of Tokiwadai thought she had won her final fight for Touma against her arch rival. It backfired.

Misaka became so angry that she nearly beat her up to death with her own fists, and Touma was able to stop her in time before she would make the biggest regret in her life. Shokuhou wasn't afraid of her, but she tried to apologise to Touma for her actions in keeping him away from the Railgun. Fortunately, the boy easily forgives her but not Misaka because she has forbidden her rival from ever visiting and speaking to him after all the things she had done to her and her friends so she could justify what happened at the Daihasei Festival last September and abuse her ability to get what she wants. That was five months ago, and the two rival Level 5s are not on speaking terms, forcing Touma to not escalate the feud if he wants them from killing each other over him.

"Are you two fucking done arguing like an old couple?" Accelerator interrupts them as he remains lying down on the sofa. "I don't need to hear about your personal issues with the Fifth Rate."

"As a matter of fact, we are." Misaka rolls her eyes at the albino's rudeness. "Still, I always thought you don't want us over here."

"Tch. I don't, to be honest." He scoffs. "But Last Order insists I should let you visit your Sisters from time to time, so I decided to not argue with her. Learned that lesson a long time ago."

"Well, I appreciate your kindness, Accelerator." She smirks. "In favor of our current friendship with me and Touma."

"Wait, since when exactly did you decide that we've become friends with you?" Touma nervously asks the Strongest Esper.

"Dumbass." Accelerator sits up, clearly annoyed. "How the hell did you forget about our previous team-ups that involved saving the world multiple times? Damnit, why am I even having this stupid conversation with you, Hero?"

Touma realizes what he's talking about and facepalms himself.

"Rotten luck." He laments as Misaka giggles in response.

"It's kinda cute you always complain about your bad luck, Touma." She admits with a teasing grin.

"As much as how childish you are that involves Gekota, Mikoto?" He retorts with his own grin, causing the girl to blush hard.

"Shut up, you!" She exclaims, launching sparks at him, to which he blocks and negates it with his right hand with the sound of shattering glass.

Yomikawa exits the kitchen and smiles at the the teens that came over.

"I'm glad you three came." She says. "Last Order wanted to have dinner with you and Index, Misaka. And I see you brought Kamijou with you as well. I guess the rumors are true. Seems like you two are already dating."

"Rumors?" The young couple said in unison.

"Hold on, who's been telling everyone at school that I'm dating Zapper?" Kamijou nervously asks.

"I think it was your classmate Tsuchimikado." The gym teacher answers.

Touma clenches his fist in anger as he grits his teeth in annoyance.

"That damn Tsuchimikado!" He snarls in annoyance, super pissed. "When I get my hands on him..."

"H-Hey, calm down." The Railgun places a hand on his shoulder. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. We're lucky enough he didn't tell Kuroko about it yet."

"That's what worries me." He laments, scares of what the Teleporter would do to him if she found out. "Now my own luck has turned against me once again."

"Oh for fuck's sake, stop your whining already, Hero." Accelerator facepalms. "If it's that bad for you, just slug him in the face like always do whenever you end up in a fight. Plus, the guy's also more of a pain in my ass than you and the Third Rate. He really needs to watch what he's says in my city. Especially about me."

"I'm glad you and I agree on one thing." Touma agrees with him as they share something in common for once.

"Hey! Misaka has already set the table for dinner." Worst pokes her head out of the kitchen.

"Finally!" Index exclaims in hunger. "I was so starving when we got here. Now I can fill up my stomach with delicious food."

"Index, show some restraint for everyone." The unlucky boy reminds the gluttony nun. "We're guests here in my gym teacher's residence, so save everyone else for seconds."

"I know, but I'm always hungry."

"Tell you what. I'll take you out for dessert with Zapper here if you promise to not hog all of the food here. Okay?"

"Sure thing, Touma!" She gleefully promises. "I'll do my best to not go all out."

"Just my luck." He sighs miserably. "There goes my savings on groceries."

"Don't worry, Touma. I'll cover for you." Misaka offers with a smile and blush on her face. "We're a couple after all."

"Oh you're a lifesaver, Mikoto. Thanks." The boy sighs in relief.

Just then, a knock is heard at the door that got everyone's attention.

* * *

"This is a bad idea." Theron mutters to himself as he and his droid are by the door.

_"Well, we don't have much of a choice." R4 beeps over on the comms. "So you'll have to watch what you say to her or she might get suspicious of what we're doing."_

"Duly noted." The Jedi bluntly says.

The door opens, revealing to be a girl no older than 12. What shocks Theron in disbelief is that she resembles Misaka with the exception of a strand of hair standing up on top like an antenna.

"Can I help you?, asks Misaka Misaka as she tilts her head in confusion." Last Order asks.

"S-Sorry." He apologizes, believing he made a mistake. "I think I have the wrong apartment number. If you could point me in the right direction to which number's Yomikawa, I'd appreciate the help."

The Sister perks up with curiosity.

"You're looking for Yomikawa?, questions Misaka Misaka."

"Last Order, who's at the do-?" Yomikawa comes up at the door next to her when she realizes it's Theron. "Oh, Theron. We weren't expecting you. What can I do for you?"

"Um, have I come at a bad time? Because I can smell food in there since it's already dinnertime." The boy asks. "I'll just come back another time."

"No, no. It's okay." She assured. "I don't mind in having one more guest in my residence."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm not hungry." He declines.

Unfortunately, his stomach growls and he facepalms himself for jinxing it. Last Order giggles in response and Yomikawa smirks.

"Not hungry, eh?" She questions. "Can't have a kid like you leave with an empty stomach."

The Jedi opens his mouth but Yomikawa silences him.

"Don't argue. Just come on in." She says. " Besides, I think I should introduce you to this young lady and her sister properly. You've already know Accelerator."

"Wait, Accelerator lives with you?" He questions in surprise.

"Long story, but I'll tell you next time. Now come inside. Food's gonna get cold."

Theron sighs in annoyance and does what she says, entering inside the apartment before shutting the door from behind.

Just what has he gotten into this time?

**To be continued...**


	52. Act 3: Chapter 8

**Act 3: Chapter 8 - Dinner with Yomikawa (Part 2)**

"Just what have I got myself into?" Theron sighs to himself as everyone is enjoying the dinner Worst made for everyone along with the help of Yomikawa's own cooking skills.

After being invited for dinner, Theron was a bit surprised that Last Order and Worst look exactly like Misaka with a few exceptions involving age differences, especially around the bust area between the dark clone and the Railgun he noticed as he sits at the table.

Misaka notices his gaze and got a little annoyed. However, she notices how he's not being all pervy at all. Guess he's not crazed over a girl's body like a certain someone she knows.

"This food tastes surprisingly good." The Jedi compliments as he eats along with the others in the dining room. _"Too good for my tastes. The texture and how it's cooked reminds me a lot of Saten's cooking."_

"Yomikawa did most of the cooking this time." Worst admits. "Misaka's surprised how delicious it is."

"I wonder if it's compared to Touma's cooking." Index wonders, getting a look from the Level 0 boy.

"Hey, my cooking is great! It's the reason why you and Mikoto enjoy it so much." Touma points out. "And for some reason, it sometimes tastes awful for me."

"Bad luck?" Theron guesses.

"Literally." The boy confirms with a grumble.

"_So he's telling the truth after all." He realizes as he proved his mind with the Force._

"I'm glad you like it, then." Yomikawa smiles proudly. "Accelerator has a hard time admitting that I make better cuisine than him."

"It's just food." Accelerator deadpans while taking a bite. "Besides, an easier way to cook food like a cup of ramen is with a microwave."

"Oh yeah." Misaka recalls. "The governing board had us participate in an experiment with the other Level 5s to see whose cooking is superior last year."

"No shit, Sherlock." He snorts. "You weren't exactly great at cooking. Must be rough to forget something so embarrassing and it turns out I ended up winning."

"Hey!" She shouts angrily, blushing. "A microwave doesn't even count! That's technically cheating! At least Touma is a far better cook than you!"

"I wasn't even participating in that contest!" Touma points out to his girlfriend, who ignores him.

"Tch. Whatever." The Number one rolls his eyes and goes back to eating.

Theron chuckles at how well everyone is getting along. He guesses that this is what a family dinner would be like. It's what Hideo would want for him. To make friends and have a family of his own someday.

_"A family." He sighs quietly while talking in his thoughts. "I wonder what it be like if I were to have one with someone I would cherish for the rest of my life. At least I'm free to choose my own path that the Jedi failed to understand. To experience something more than just close friendship."_

For some reason, images of Saten smiling appear in his thoughts and his cheeks turn red.

"_H-Hold on! There's no way in a million years that I'm already falling for her! And I don't think she sees me that way. She probably wants to cherish our close friendship more than wanting to have a romantic one. Damn droid. Always with the teasing."_

But then, he becomes conflicted about the idea that he truly is.

_"But what if it's true? What if I'm really falling in love for Saten? Would she accept my love that simple? Would she reject it?"_

All of this was frustrating him as he tries to ponder those questions he struggles to find the answers. That beautiful face of hers is just making it hard to answer that important question: Does he love Ruiko Saten?

"Hey, Theron." Touma interrupts his thoughts as he notices the blush on the Jedi's cheeks. "Are you okay? You look a bit red for some reason."

Everyone gazed at him as they (minus Accelerator) were concerned.

"No, I'm not sick if that's what you're asking me about." He answers, looking away from their gaze.

"Is it that weird girl who has an interest in you?" Accelerator guesses, already knowing the answer as he studied the way they're interacting.

"Ha! I knew it!" The Railgun grins. "I finally have something to get back at Saten for all the constant teasing she put me through about loving Touma!"

"That's none of your damn business, you two." The Jedi rolls his eyes while trying to hide his blush to no avail. "And since when has the Number One himself decided to play matchmaker? Totally out of your character, Accelerator."

"Like you said, it's none of your damn business." He shots back at him.

"It is my business."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

"It's none of your business!" The albino snaps. "Don't fuck with me, Mr. Show Off!"

Theron laughs at how much of a terrible liar he is. He didn't need the Force to figure to read his face. Guess two can play that game, then.

"Humor me, then." He smirks. "Tell me if you ever been in a relationship with someone you know. Name one girl that means the whole world to you."

"This'll be good." Misaka snorts as everyone watches a showdown between the city's strongest Esper and the former Jedi Padawan with only words.

"Tch. Forget it." He looks away. "I'm not telling you anything about my personal life."

"Accelerator's been writing letters to a girl." Yomikawa interrupts with a smirk.

"Have you been snooping in my room?!" The albino angrily yells at the Amazon woman.

"A girl?" The others question curiously.

"Yep." She confirms, holding up a few letters from and to someone.

"Where did you get that?!" Accelerator questions his guardian and tries to get them back but the woman moves the letters away from him much to his frustration and annoyance.

"Oh, I see." Theron smirks. "If it's a girl, then you are hiding something after all."

"Shut up or I'll turn you into paste." He threatens with a dark expression on his face, generating a dark aura around him.

"Empty threats coming from a guy who was shot in the head so pathetically and easily by some lucky idiot with a gun." The Jedi grins savagely.

Touma, Misaka, and the Sisters covered their mouths to hide their snickers. It may sound dark, but that was totally a good roast to the albino who always rely on an electrode to use his powers. Index, meanwhile, was confused.

"Hey Yomikawa, what does this girl look like?" He asks the woman. "You and Accelerator probably know her, right?"

"I want to know, too." Misaka agrees with a shit eating grin. "At least he gets a taste of his own medicine for once like Saten does."

"She's around his and Kamijou's age, has blond hair with black ribbons attached to the sides, and has green eyes." Yomikawa describes. "What was her name again? Esther? Esther Rosenthal?"

Accelerator growls in annoyance that she had to go and tell everyone about his business.

"Huh." Touma scratches his head. "I wasn't expecting that you're into European girls, Accelerator."

"Piss off, Hero." He growls.

"Wait. Isn't this girl a member of the infamous necromancing Rosenthal family?" Index wonders aloud.

"Esther?!, exclaims Misaka Misaka in disbelief and jealousy as Misaka recalls her from last September!" Last Order questions the albino who is surprisingly blushing angrily.

"I knew something was going on between you two back then!"

"Yeah!" Worst joins in with her smaller, older sister before reaching something. "Wait. Who?"

"Fuck this shit!" Accelerator says aloud as he turns on his electrode and sends the table flying up to the ceiling, smashing the delicious food everyone was eating.

Luckily, Theron was holding his bowl of warm food in his hands just before the food was smashed.

"So... anyone up for dessert?" Theron asks everyone with an awkward grin as the table drops to the wooden floor hard.

* * *

**Later...**

Theron, Misaka, Touma, and Index had already left Yomikawa's apartment and are walking down the street together after the Anti-Skill woman send them home early due to Accelerator losing his cool.

"Ahhhh." Index says, patting her belly in delight. "That was so good."

"Sure was, Index." Touma agrees with her.

"Well, I'm gonna go turn in for the night." Theron yawns. "See ya."

Just as he is about to leave, Misaka grabs his shoulder.

"Actually, we need to talk." She says before looking at Index and Touma. You guys go on. I need to speak with him alone about something."

"Of course. I better get some sleep before remedial class tomorrow." He nods. "Night, Zapper."

"Night to you too." She waves as her boyfriend and the silver haired nun left.

When they're out of sight, the Railgun turns to the Jedi with a serious look.

"Alright, what are you up to this time?" She asks.

"Can this wait till tomorrow? My droid and the Kid are waiting for me at home."

"No, you and are going to have a chat now." She persists as electric sparks forms around her head. "Unless you want me to beat it out of you."

"Fine. No point in refusing anyway." He sighs.

**To be**** continued...**


	53. Act 3: Chapter 9

**Act 3: Chapter 9 - Sheep in Wolf's Clothing (Part 1)**

**A few days ago...**

**Northern Japanese Mountains**

_Let's take a wind back to about a few days earlier. A well hidden Imperial outpost resides within the Japanese mountains. It is considered a fortress and a prison with three large hangars for shuttles or TIEs. A few AT-STs patrol the outpost grounds with only two AT-ATs guarding three main high security gates large enough for them to walk through._

_Inside one of the outpost's training simulators, __a squad of Death Troopers are in the middle of fighting a few Mandalorians with coral orange and black colored Beskar armor in a forest environment. Of course, they're not real life enemies as they're in fact holo-training droids that can mimic an enemy's fighting style, the limited skills, appearance, and alloy the enemy's armor is made of, including Force powers almost flawlessly._

_The Death Trooper commander signals one of his men to toss a grenade where one enemy is hiding to draw him out. The simulated Mandalorian uses his jetpack to fly upwards right before the imploder grenade went off. However, the enemy fell for it and one of the Death Troopers fired his E-11D at him. The red blaster bolt was not aimed at the Beskar, however, as it is the strongest alloy known in the Galaxy to resist blaster fire and even lightsabers. Instead, the bolt penetrates where the armor is at its weakest: the black and grey bodysuits underneath. The enemy loses control of flying with his jetpack as he spirals toward a tree and explodes upon impact._

_As the Death Troopers continue to fire at their enemy from behind the trees they use as cover, two individuals behind a large, view screen window watch the simulated battle happening inside the AR simulation as the Imperial officers in white technician uniforms monitor and control the training session._

_"Absolutely not." A holographic transmission of a middle-aged man in an high ranking officer uniform exclaims while watching the training session. "Ghost Squad remains here. Your request is denied, Inquisitor."_

_"Grand Moff Tarkin, please reconsider your decision." The Second Brother insists. "This particular Death Trooper squad has an incredible history of completing missions. They're precision and off-mission capabilities are almost flawless in the last 10 years since it was formed. Ghost Squad became legendary for their methods of capturing and extracting the target without killing him, hence their reliability on aiming for the weakpoints and if under the right circumstances, the head."_

_The Sith Inquisitor makes his point as they see the Ghost Squad commander, aiming with timed precision, performs a headshot at a Mandalorian's helmet, knocking the warrior down due to the huge amount of impact the blaster bolt had on._

_"You're wasting their talents using them as mere security guards." He deadpans, annoyed._

_"They're capable of preventing intruders or prisoners from escaping Outpost Terra." The Grand Moff calmly explains. "It is vital that it's not discovered by human primitives, which means I can do what I want with Ghost Squad as I see fit."_

_The Second Brother eye rolls beneath his helmet._

_"You arrogant Tarkins never learn." He chuckles in amusement. "Of all of your experiences as a military leader and politician, you lack one thing your ancestor Wilhuff and the Tarkin initiative he founded never had: wisdom."_

_"Do not challenge my authority, Second Brother!" He snaps at him, completely annoyed. "You may be Lord Morgoth's secret apprentice, but he has chosen me to lead the Imperial military. You, you only have your Purge Troopers and Inquisitor brethren in hunting down Force users."_

_"No offense to Commander Onasi, but he and the other Purge Troopers aren't trained for black op missions like their Death Trooper rivals." Second Brother argues._

_"Ah yes. PT-3571, is it?" Tarkin recalls. "He recently received cybernetic enhancements meant for the Death Trooper program after his last visit here. And for some reason, he declines the offer of joining their ranks. His ancestry involved in the Mandalorian Wars and Jedi Civil War could've been a huge asset to me."_

_"He's not your slave, Tarkin. He made his decision and that's the Inquisitorious. My excavation assignment-"_

_"Is nothing but a vanity project." He cuts him off. "We're dealing with recent setbacks of discreetly capturing Wookiees for our slave labor, and these Mandos under House Ordo are becoming a major nuisance to our other major projects far more important than your master's. So I need every man I've got to counter this damn problem."_

_"But-"_

_"That's final! I don't want to hear another word about Ghost Squad from you."_

_The Second Brother growls in anger as he grits his teeth._ _The one thing he hates more than slavery and corruption is Imperial arrogance._

_Just then, the door behind them opens as an Imperial officer walks into the room, getting the Sith Inquisitor and Grand Moff's attention._

_"Sir." The young officer informs the Force user, handing a datapad to him._

_"An encoded transmission from Morgoth?" He mutters loud enough for the Grand Moff to hear while stepping away from the hologram. His expression becomes positive after reading the message._

_"What does it say?" Tarkin frowns suspiciously._

_"Well today's my lucky day, Tarkin. It appears I've been given Level 6 authorization. Which means my clearance is a level higher than yours." He explains, turning his head towards him and smirking. "My request... is now an order."_

_Tarkin didn't look too happy about the news and feels like he lost the argument with him.__"This isn't over, Inquisitor." He warns in a dark tone._

Just_ like that, the transmission ends as the hologram vanishes.__The Second Brother goes back to watching Ghost Squad finishing their simulation, smirking victorious for the first time against a high ranking Imperial military officer who has no respect to non human races. Racism is another reason why he hates how corrupted and no different the Empire is to the hypocritical Galactic Republic when they had an army of Clones that were considered slaves too. After all, the Clones were victims to Palpatine's plan and the Sith Inquisitor knew the truth behind the Jedi Purge._

_"If you can't bring down an empire, then all you can do is redeem and change its unlawful laws and flawed protocols." He mutters. "The only reason why I'm using Morgoth to fullfil my redemption I've failed all those years ago with my wife__."_

_As he continues watching the simulation, a mysterious figure is stalking him from above on a catwalk before the figure vanishes into the shadows._

* * *

**Present Day...**

It is now August 15, and the five Death Troopers of Ghost Squad all lined up in one of Outpost Terra's hangars in the mountains.

"You're here not only because you're the elite in both Imperial ranks and the Death Trooper program," Second Brother speaks to them. "It's because you're capable of getting the job done the best you can offer for your services in the Empire. One of the aspects of a soldier I highly respect unlike certain high ranking officers like the Grand Moff, who have no honor, no respect to the troops under their command."

He then turns around and faces the five black armored troopers with dark, green visors.

"In my eyes - and I'm pretty sure in your eyes as well - the higher ups today and back in the early days of the Empire don't give a damn about you or your comrades." He continues. "They see you as expendable resources. As slaves who follow orders without question. Very few soldiers and officers don't, and that makes me feel disappointed on how low the people in power they have sunk. The highers ups we have today care only for glory and power. Those like myself and many others in the Imperial military, care about results without blindingly follow orders. We're not droids. We're people that always make mistakes, something that most Imperials don't value."

He pauses for a moment and continues speaking.

"You on the other hand, have already proven yourselves that you're better than the superiors you're no longer under command to. And that's who I trust and respect more. Today, you will take it further under my command and you will only answer to me. To maintain peace and order, we must also bring back the one thing the Empire disregards: justice. And soon, Morgoth, Tarkin, and their followers will face the justice the Imperial citizens have always craved for since Palpatine lied to the Old Galaxy about the Jedi's so-called betrayal."

He then takes out a holodisc and a holographic figure appears before them.

"Now then. Your target is this boy." The Sith Inquisitor briefs. "A Jedi who is capable of fighting a variety of Imperial troops and droids. You are free to use whatever methods you deem necessary, but I want him alive. He's not to be harmed under any circumstances. Use blasters for stun only. This is a covert/extraction mission and we don't need Academy City's military to trace us back here. Are there any questions?"

Ghost Squad remains silent.

"I'll take that as a no." He shakes his head. "Good luck and Godspeed, gentlemen. Your ship is waiting."

The Death Trooper commander complies with a garbled sound in his helmet and orders his squad to to board their TIE Reaper. The boarding ramp closes and the Reaper takes off, flying out of the hangar as the sun begins to rise in the east.

* * *

_It was dark. No sound was heard in the dark void. And then, there was light as the Second Brother opens his eyes. Through his eyes, he is now in a mysterious place where exists a bridge between the living and the dead. The landscape was dark, filled with dead trees covered in ash and the ground is hard as rock.__He couldn't move as he looks at his surroundings familiar to him. The dark side user then looks at what he's doing. He is tearing open the gateway to the Netherworld of the Force with his two bare hands, struggling to keep it open.__He then sees something ahead on the other side of the portal he's trying to keep open. A silhouette in the form of boy no older than four. Gritting his teeth as he continues holding the gateway together, he outstretches his hand to the child, offering him to take it so he can bring him to the living world.__But then, something happened as he was pulled away by the power of the Force. He struggles to take the boy's hand and when he did, the portal becomes unstable. It could no longer hold together as it collapses and explodes, engulfing both the two in a blinding light before everything went black._

* * *

He jolts awake from his meditation, sweating underneath his helmet. He was so close to bringing his son back to the living that day when the world rebelled against him, including the love of his life.

_"He would've been alive again. My own flesh and blood in our arms. Now there's a chance to do it again. Morgoth must not get his hands on the Eon engine the Whills have built when I'm done using it."_

However, he feels conflicted. His wife will never help him bring their son back unwilling to do what must be done. He was not ready to let go when they lost him.

He reaches up to his helmet and prepares to remove it when the door outside his quarters opens up, revealing to be a random officer as the Force user drops his hands from reaching for his helmet that he's wearing.

"Sir. Ghost Squad has returned from the city, and await for you in the hangar." He informs the Sith Inquisitor.

_"It's been the entire morning, already?" He questions himself before turning his head. _"I'm on my way."

* * *

The elevator descends from the mountaintop and arrives in the hangar floor. The Second Brother exits the lift and walks toward Ghost Squad with an unconscious Theron before their superior.

"Good work, Ghost Squad." He compliments. "I see you've pulled it off."

Unfortunately, he senses a disturbance and notices a familiar girl who is also included unconscious in one of the Death Trooper's arms.

"Explain." He calmly demands.

The armored commander speaks through his encrypted helmet modulator, speaking in garbled noises as he explains what happened during their mission.

"So you had to bring her here, then." He sighs. "Take them to the holding cells for now. I'll figure out what to do with the girl."

The commander nods and gestures his men to head for the holding cells, bringing along the Theron and his friend Saten as they remain unconscious.

_To be continued..._


	54. Author's Note 2

**Hello readers!** **Most of you readers are complaining about me writing and getting my Toaru lore wrong.**

**How about you shut the hell up about it?!**

**I can't keep up with it, and all you do is whine, whine, whine, whine! I dont give a damn if im getting my Toaru facts wrong or not! THIS ISNT YOUR STORY TO WRITE! YOU DONT GET TO DECIDE THAT!**

**First of all, New Testament characters will NOT be part of this story. They are far too OP for this storyline. Secondly, this is not a continuation of NT or Genesis Testament. Post NT but doesn't continue on to Genesis Testament which isn't canon to this story's alternate universe. Lastly, they'll only be mentioned not involved. Why would a bunch of magic gods waste time on fighting someone that's not their level? Plus, in this universe, Othinus has left to travel the world in her own for who knows how long. Happy now?**

**SO ****SHUT THE FUCK UP OR IM DONE WRITING FOR YOU ALL!** **If you have a problem, leave a PM message to me about it and we'll have a nice 'chat' about it.**


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